The Lakers defeated the Hawks tonight in a blowout 141-116 win at home. LeBron James led all scorers for them and fell one rebound short of a triple-double. He finished the game with 31 points, 10 assists, and nine rebounds while shooting 12-20 from the field (60.0%) and 2-4 from the three-point line (50.0%).
During the postgame press conference, JJ Redick addressed why James played in a back-to-back game for the first time this season. While addressing James’ greatness and competitive spirit, Redick digressed into calling out his critics for constantly taking shots at him.
“There’s no decision that gets made for him. I’ve said it a few times at the start of the season: this is uncharted territory. He got hit in the quad in the fourth quarter, and he’s already in the ice bath. He’s going to do everything he possibly can to play in his 23rd year; it’s remarkable.”
Redick has previously also indicated that James has a lot of leeway when it comes to making decisions about his availability and even calling plays on the floor, which go against the Lakers’ coaching staff’s instructions.
“His competitive stamina is off the charts. We didn’t expect him to be able to play; that’s the nature of a 41-year-old body who plays heavy minutes. He just said I’m going to try with my routine if I’m able to go.”
“Same thing with Luka. Both those guys, I thought, completely led the group tonight. 22 assists between them, obviously they made some shots too… I don’t take for granted the LeBron stuff.”
Luka Doncic and James were both initially listed as questionable for tonight’s game, as Doncic had left groin soreness and James said he was doubtful for all the back-to-back games this season. But both the stars suited up tonight to lead the Lakers to the win.
The Slovenian star contributed with 27 points, 12 assists, and five rebounds while shooting 7-16 from the field (43.9%) and 5-9 from beyond the arc (55.5%). Redick went on to scrutinize LeBron James’ critics, who still manage to find flaws in his contribution to the Lakers instead of acknowledging his greatness.
“It’s unfortunate, actually, not to go on a tangent here, but it’s unfortunate how much this guy cares and how certain people talk about him. It’s crazy, come be around him and see how much this guy cares, it’s off the charts,” Redick added firmly.
“Because that’s the nature of envy. You’re not going to get a click, a response by saying something nice about somebody, by acknowledging someone’s greatness, by acknowledging how much they care, how much they work, how much they’ve accomplished and continue to work towards,” said Redick while calling out James’ critics.
The Lakers star is currently averaging 22.4 points, 6.9 assists, and 5.7 rebounds for the season after tonight, while shooting 51.3% from the field at age 41. Redick feels that instead of focusing on the positives, critics are heavily distracted by their own negative observations.
“You’ve got to say something bad about him, you’ve got to knock him on TV, you’ve got to read into ‘oh he did this pregame’ and whatnot, it’s all just nuts. Be around him every day, he’s unbelievable,” Redick further added.
While it remains unclear who the Lakers’ head coach was referring to, in general, it speaks to all the critics of a 41-year-old LeBron James who is producing nothing short of greatness on the court every day, even at this point in his career.
Several critics have questioned James’ role on the Lakers and criticized him for not playing at a high level at this age. Redick simply pointed out that the Lakers’ star is doing everything in his power to be available for them every night.
One key takeaway for the Lakers tonight was that they were much better from beyond the arc as a team. They shot 19-34 from the three-point line as a team (55.9%) after struggling from beyond the arc last night against the Kings (8-36, 22.2%).
The Lakers have improved to 24-14 following tonight’s win over the Hawks. They have another back-to-back scheduled for the coming weekend after facing the Hornets on Thursday.
They go on the road to face the Trail Blazers in Portland on Saturday (January 17) before heading back home to face the Raptors on Sunday (January 18). It will be interesting to see how often we get to witness LeBron James play on back-to-back nights at such a high level.
