Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick played observer on Saturday during a scrimmage. Redick had two of his assistants coach the Lakers players, who were split into two groups, and he told the media afterward that he noticed an area where his team had improved a lot from last year.
“What I observed today over and over and over again were small interactions,” Redick said. “And to me, the best teams, the best groups, the best organizations in any field, small interactions are so important. And how many small interactions can you have in a game? You should have thousands, ‘Good screen, good job, good pass, I got you next time.’
“Like, that’s what we’re starting to see from our group,” Redick continued. “… We were not great with that last year. That’s part of our championship communication. So that stuff is happening in real time, and we’re really happy with the progress we made. Still got a ways to go, but it’s happening.”
Redick had named championship communication as one of the priorities for the Lakers this season, along with championship habits and championship shape. They are moving in the right direction by the looks of it.
Redick also previously praised his players for being committed to being in championship shape. That has been evident with Luka Doncic more than anyone else. Doncic underwent a physical transformation over the summer and is coming into this 2025-26 season in arguably the best shape that he has been in for years.
The Lakers are going to need Doncic to be at his best straight away, too. His co-star, LeBron James, has been sidelined for three to four weeks due to sciatica on his right side. The injury means James is going to miss the opening day of a season for the first time in his NBA career.
Doncic and Austin Reaves will have to shine if the Lakers are to avoid a slow start to the season in James’ absence. They were 13-12 after the first 25 games of the 2024-25 campaign, and Redick would be looking for a much better start than that one.
That mediocre start had many questioning the Lakers’ decision to hire Redick, a man who had never even coached at the high school level before getting the job. The pitchforks were out, but the 41-year-old eventually steadied the ship.
The Lakers finished with an impressive 50-32 record, which got them the third seed in the West. The campaign wouldn’t end the way Redick would have hoped, though. The Lakers surprisingly lost in five games to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the playoffs, and it certainly wasn’t a postseason debut to remember for their head coach.
Despite the early exit, the Lakers handed Redick a two-year extension in the summer. They believe in him as a coach, and it will be interesting to see how his sophomore season goes.
The preseason hasn’t gone all too well so far. The Lakers are 0-2 following losses to the Phoenix Suns and Golden State Warriors. They were basically blown out in both games as well, with the scoreline only looking respectable against the Warriors (111-103) due to a fourth-quarter flurry.
While the preseason doesn’t necessarily tell you how the season is going to go, you would like to see the Lakers put in better performances. They have four more preseason games left now, starting with another clash with the Warriors at Crypto.com Arena on Sunday at 9:30 PM ET.
