In the hours leading up to his team’s latest playoff game, things got heated in the press room as one reporter seemingly crossed the line with his questioning. Following a controversial decision in the Game 3 loss to Minnesota, Lakers coach JJ Redick was asked about leaning more on his assistant coaches, but he took it as a slight on his inexperienced coaching record.
Reporter: “As you watch the film, what do you recall about your thought process at the moment, sticking with the five you stuck with in the fourth quarter the other day? Is there an assistant or someone that you’ll lean on tonight to try to get some other guys involved?”
JJ Redick: “Are you saying that because I’m inexperienced and that was an inexperienced decision I made? You think I don’t talk to my assistants about substitutions every single timeout? That’s a weird assumption.”
JJ Redick abruptly left the press conference after being asked whether he plans to rely on his Lakers assistant coaches for fourth-quarter substitutions. pic.twitter.com/M9n8HGXH9Q
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) May 1, 2025
It’s Redick’s first season on the job, and his hire was criticized for his lack of coaching history at any level. For a team with title aspirations, many were not sold on the idea of a 40-year-old former player leading the Lakers as coach without any prior experience on the job.
Redick faced his first real scrutiny as a coach this week after the Lakers’ three-point loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 4. In a bold move, he decided to cut his rotation to just five players in the second half, essentially phasing out most of the supporting cast.
Redick offered to give the players a rest down the stretch, but they let the rest of the game go by without a substitution, and it took a major physical toll. By the end of the game, the Lakers were completely out of gas and had nothing left to make a final run.
Many fans believe that the Lakers could have won that game if the rotations had been run differently, but there’s no going back now, and it seems Redick still has no regrets.
Tonight, with veteran big man Maxi Kleber back in the fold, the Lakers have another option to play at center, but it remains to be seen if he’s ready for NBA playoff action. After months off the floor, we shouldn’t expect much from Kleber, but the Lakers are desperate right now, and they need all the help they can get in this series.
Down 3-1 against the Timberwolves, LeBron James and Luka Doncic have been thoroughly outplayed thanks to overwhelming physicality and strong play off the bench from guys like Donte DiVincenzo, Naz Reid, and Nickeil-Alexander Walker.
In Game 5, the Lakers will need more consistent scoring from their bench, and for their “big three” of Luka Doncic, LeBron James, and Austin Reaves to step up on both ends of the floor.
Meanwhile, JJ Redick will be working with his staff to maximize the rotation and develop a game plan that leads the Lakers to victory. With so few players he trusts, it won’t be easy to find the right mix, but there is still time for them to find something that works.
