The Los Angeles Lakers (34-21) are gaining more believers around the NBA for the job that they’re doing over the last month. Despite major trade upheaval and players coming in and out of the lineup, the team has shot up the Western Conference and is currently sitting just two games behind the No. 2 seed in the West.
JJ Redick deserves a lot of credit for creating a much more dependable baseline of success this season than we saw with the franchise last year. Stephen A. Smith decided to commend that after the team’s win over the Denver Nuggets, calling Redick a Coach of the Year candidate.
“JJ Redick is a candidate for Coach of the Year. He’s doing a hell of a job. Big Perk enlightened me about how brilliant they are offensively compared to what they were last year. Defensively, not so much. But that wasn’t the case last night. If that Los Angeles Lakers team showed up in the Playoffs, look the hell out. I’m not going to be mad about being in Southern California.”
Lmfaoooo look how they switch up now😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/8KrT3FVRdI
— ²³𝙻𝚎𝙱𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚜🏀☄️🌎💞 (@BronGotGame) February 23, 2025
This is a massive U-turn on the Lakers after Smith has relentlessly criticized the franchise in recent weeks.
Just four days ago, he claimed JJ Redick had big shoes to fill because Darvin Ham took the team to the Western Conference Finals in his first season. Alongside that, he made it a point to say that the Lakers couldn’t beat the Nuggets two days before they blew them out.
“He’s got shoes to fill. We’ve got to remember that Darvin Ham took this team in his rookie year as a head coach to the Western Conference Finals. When they lost in the first round last year, it was the same team they lost to in the Western Conference Finals who ended up winning the championship – the Denver Nuggets.”
“Last year, we were making a legitimate argument that if it were not for the Denver Nuggets, there was no team in the West the Lakers couldn’t beat. So No. 1 priority will be to avoid the Nuggets at all costs because you ain’t beating them.”
Fans also shared recent examples of Smith making outrageously anti-Lakers takes by claiming the post-trade Dallas Mavericks are a better roster and that LeBron is actively damaging the Lakers by not requesting a trade.
Past two weeks pic.twitter.com/U7KuReGath
— pickuphoop (@pickuphoop) February 24, 2025
Everyone is entitled to change and evolve their opinions, but they’re happening at a lightning-fast rate with Smith. But I don’t think I can blame him in this situation.
JJ Redick Is Coaching The Lakers Perfectly
If you’ve not been watching the carefully constructed system that JJ Redick has built since day one of taking over as a head coach, their current success will come as a shock. However, Redick has built fantastic habits into his players and it’s paying off now as they’re playing fantastic team basketball over the last 18 games.
They’re 14-4 over the last 18, which is the best record in the NBA. In addition, they have a defensive rating of 109.6 over this stretch, which would rank No. 1 in the NBA. This span also includes their mid-season trade for Luka Doncic, which saw Anthony Davis go from available to injured to traded, and Doncic being unavailable for multiple games due to injury before he made his debut.
This isn’t a soft stretch like Nikola Jokic admitted the Nuggets recently had over their nine-game win streak. The Lakers have picked up quality wins over high-quality opposition like the Celtics, Nuggets, Knicks, Clippers, and Warriors.
They have a rough set of games still left to come in March and April, so the team needs to keep this momentum going forward. With genuine belief amongst the unit that they can compete for a title, the Lakers are going to be massive wildcards in the Western Conference Playoffs.
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