JJ Redick surely witnessed Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James take over a game many times as an opponent during his playing career, but Saturday night marked the first time he saw it as his head coach.
With the Lakers trailing the Sacramento Kings by seven entering the fourth quarter, James led a 21-0 run, scoring 16 points by himself, to keep his team undefeated at 3-0 with another comeback victory.
James finished the night with 32 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists, doing a little bit of everything for his team to the point where Redick was speechless when talking about it after the game.
“To just get that performance to start the fourth from LeBron [James]. What can you say? We’ve all been very fortunate to watch his greatness for so long and the fact that he’s able to keep doing it. It’s actually insane,” Redick said. “It’s actually insane. But you know, we executed really well in the fourth — to get 44 points in a quarter was great. And I would just add the last two games, last night and tonight, basketball is a game of imperfect. And our guys weathered some bad stretches, some bad breaks, and the resiliency that we’ve built this week, I believe is a very good foundation for our group.”
Redick is still learning more about James while coaching him and he discussed how surreal it was to be there for his performance against the Kings.
“Look, I think in general, when you operate out of gratitude, you sometimes have a feeling of surrealness and I’ve certainly had that many times and many days as the head coach of the Lakers. Tonight was a surreal moment to watch him, coach him,” Redick added.
“In terms of what I’ve learned, I actually learned something tonight, which is that during timeouts when I’m drawing up plays and talking and he’s also talking, that he hears and sees everything. So, noted.”
The Redick and James partnership began with a podcast and is now thriving in the NBA. It has only been three games, but James, Redick and everyone else have brought back optimism in the Lakers organization about what this team can accomplish.
LeBron James had it going in fourth quarter against Kings
Leading a 21-0 run while scoring 16 points in a four-minute stretch is ridiculous for anyone, let alone a player in his 22nd season. LeBron James discussed what was working for him and the Lakers during that run.
“I guess a little bit of everything,” James said. “Just caught a rhythm, got my outside shot going, got a couple and-ones in the paint as well, got a backdoor from D-Lo that worked well. Just tried to see what I had going and help us get over the hump on this back-to-back.”
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