The Los Angeles Lakers extended their current win streak to nine games after a Luke Kennard buzzer-beater helped them pick up a 105-104 win over the Orlando Magic last night. The Lakers are red-hot and building a gap between them and the chasing pack for the No. 3 seed in the West, holding a 2.5-game lead with 11 games remaining this season.
Kennard’s buzzer-beater came off an out-of-bounds play where Marcus Smart was inbounding. LeBron James acted as a decoy who drove to the rim and took two defenders with him, leaving Kennard open at the top of the key. The 48.6% three-point shooter this season proved he can step up in the biggest moments, draining the outside shot and giving the Lakers a one-point lead for the win.
This ATO was not drawn up by head coach JJ Redick or an executive decision made by Luka Doncic or LeBron on the court. Instead, it was Lakers assistant coach Greg St. Jean who cooked up the play, according to Redick in his post-game media scrum.
“Lakers assistant coach Greg St. Jean drew up the game-winning play, JJ Redick said.”
LUKE KENNARD FOR THE WIN!!!! 🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/eVMYKKYSmx
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) March 22, 2026
St. Jean has been around professional basketball for the last 13 years officially, but has been around the game his entire life. He is the son of Garry St. Jean, who was the Sacramento Kings head coach for five seasons between 1992 and 1997. He was also a key front office member of the Golden State Warriors in the early 2000s.
His son, Greg, graduated from Wesleyan University in 2013, playing as a guard in Division III, but averaged just 1.3 points and 3.0 rebounds on 16.7% shooting. Clearly, his calling wasn’t on the court, but he did graduate and find a role on the Kings as a video coordinator in 2013.
He’d been promoted to assistant player development within a year but would leave the NBA in 2015 to become an assistant coach at St. John’s University in NCAA Division I. He spent four years with the Red Storm before returning to the NBA as a player development coach with the Lakers in 2019. He spent two seasons with LA before joining former Lakers assistant Jason Kidd’s coaching staff on the Dallas Mavericks as an assistant.
He worked with Luka Doncic closely during his time in Dallas, even joining the Slovenian national team as a coach to help Doncic on his national team. However, St. Jean would leave the Mavericks in 2023 and join Frank Vogel’s staff on the Phoenix Suns. Unfortunately, Vogel and his staff were let go after one season, when St. Jean decided to join rookie head coach JJ Redick’s staff in the 2024-25 season.
Redick previously was a player on the Mavericks during St. Jean’s tenure, so the pair likely built a rapport there before reconnecting on the Lakers. He’s been a crucial member of the staff, especially on the offensive end. He was the de facto offensive coordinator of the Mavericks during his time on Kidd’s staff, with coach Redick also relying on St. Jean’s offensive expertise.
Thankfully, St. Jean showed up when it came to this play for Kennard. Using LeBron as a decoy and keeping Doncic out of the play, knowing that both players will have major defensive attention, made it almost too easy for Kennard to get that space. However, if he hadn’t drawn it up, the Lakers likely would have ended up forcing a two-pointer for OT or taking a rushed three-pointer, which could have missed. Instead, Kennard got a wide-open shot that he lazered through the net.
St. Jean is expected to have a bright future in the NBA, but the coach is still in his mid-30s and has years of seasoning to go through before he can follow his father’s footsteps and lead an NBA franchise as their head coach.
