The Los Angeles Lakers have gotten off to an excellent 17-6 start to the 2025-26 NBA season and are currently second in the standings in the Western Conference. Head coach JJ Redick has been showered with praise for the job he has done, but former Lakers guard and coach, Bryon Scott, doesn’t think he’s done anything revolutionary.
Scott was asked about Redick’s coaching philosophy and system on Byron Scott’s Fast Break podcast, and he thinks it’s the same as what we see from a lot of other NBA coaches.
“His philosophy is pretty much the same as almost 20 other teams in this league, as far as pace and shooting a high number of threes,” Scott said. “But again, if you’re not making them, it’s a different story. I still believe that layups and getting to the free throw line are very valuable as well, especially when you’re not shooting threes at a high clip.”
Well, Redick’s Lakers do get to the free-throw line a lot. They’re averaging 28.3 free throw attempts a game this season, which ranks 4th in the NBA.
The Lakers also aren’t shooting a lot of threes compared to the rest of the league, as their average of 33.2 attempts a game ranks 24th. Their 99.98 Pace ranks just 22nd as well.
So, Scott, who had a 38-126 record in two seasons as Lakers head coach from 2014 to 2016, might be a little bit off in his assessment. The 64-year-old also stated earlier in the episode that he doesn’t believe his former team will be able to keep winning at this rate.
“When you start looking at all the numbers, and they’ve gotten off to a great start, they gotten off to this great start because their offense has been hot,” Scott stated. “And they were doing all this without LeBron [James]. LeBron’s back, so the offense is continuing to play well, but now their defense is starting to struggle.
“And again, as long as they’re playing teams that are like OKC, that are more athletic, that are faster, that are better defensive teams, they’re going to struggle,” Scott added. “And we saw it early when they played OKC at OKC without LeBron. They got torched, right?”
The Oklahoma City Thunder demolished the Lakers 121-92 when the teams faced off at the Paycom Center on Nov. 12. While one could try to point to LeBron James‘ absence as a reason for that blowout loss, the Thunder were without their second-best player, Jalen Williams, and their best defender, Lu Dort.
We might see the Lakers and Thunder face off again soon, as they play the San Antonio Spurs and the Phoenix Suns, respectively, in the quarterfinals of the NBA Cup on Wednesday. If they win their games, they’ll take on each other, with a spot in the final on the line.
Unfortunately for the Lakers, the outcome is unlikely to be any different in that potential clash. The Thunder are just better than them in many facets. Most notably, they’re a far superior defensive team and are a lot more athletic as well.
The Lakers’ lack of athleticism is regarded as one of their biggest weaknesses. It contributes to them ranking 21st in the NBA with a 116.2 defensive rating. The only way to fix this problem would be to make a trade.
