The Los Angeles Lakers ruled out Anthony Davis against the Memphis Grizzlies, so players like D’Angelo Russell needed to step up in order to steal a win on the final leg of a road trip.
Russell has struggled to begin the 2024-25 season and that continued against the Grizzlies as he shot a mere 4-of-12 from the floor for 12 points. The Lakers ended up losing 131-114, ending their road trip on a low note.
It was a disappointing showing from Russell, who looked lackadaisical throughout the evening. After a couple of rough possessions in the third quarter, head coach JJ Redick benched Russell in favor of Gabe Vincent the rest of the way.
When asked why Russell only played 22 minutes, Redick explained he didn’t like his effort on the floor.
“Just level of compete,” Redick said. “Attention to detail. Some of the things we’ve talked with him about for a couple of weeks.
“At times he’s been really good with that stuff, other times it’s just reverting to certain habits. It wasn’t like a punishment, I just felt like for us to have a chance to win this game, that was the route we wanted to take. Gabe in the first half, especially defensively, was fantastic. I just wanted to see what that looked like. Again, he had some good looks, Dalton had some good looks, I thought Austin had some great looks. Didn’t go down and sometimes those misses can be momentum shifting, especially when they’re generating wide open corner 3s.”
It sounds like Redick and the coaching staff have noticed Russell’s downswings and are actively trying to address them, but his performance against Memphis was concerning given the role they needed him to play. There have been far too many instances of Russell coasting on both ends of the floor, and his lack of urgency came back to hurt the Lakers.
While it’s still early in the regular season, Los Angeles can’t afford to take any games lightly as the Western Conference remains as competitive as ever. Hopefully Russell took Redick’s message well and responds on Friday when the Lakers host the Philadelphia 76ers.
JJ Redick praises D’Angelo Russell’s leadership skills
Although JJ Redick didn’t like what he saw from D’Angelo Russell against the Grizzlies, he’ll still need the guard both on and off the floor to get the purple and gold back on track. Redick needs Russell’s outside shooting, but he’s also praised him for his leadership so far.
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