JJ Redick drew some criticism for his playoff debut as the Los Angeles Lakers didn’t look close to ready for Game 1 against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Lakers were blown out by the Timberwolves and Redick received some pointed comments from people, including franchise legend Magic Johnson. Redick proved he has what it takes to coach an NBA team during the 2024-25 season, but the team’s Game 1 performance raised some serious question marks.
Fortunately for Redick and his staff, Los Angeles was able to bounce back with a strong win in Game 2 that evened the series 1-1. While the Lakers will be on the road for Games 3 and 4, Redick now has a sense for what he needs to do to ensure that the team is set up to win.
For example, there was a moment in the second half where he abruptly called a timeout before the team was set to inbound the basketball and was clearly unhappy with his team. Video of the moment Redick called timeout and laid into the Lakers was captured, via HoopCentral:
JJ Redick:
“Jesus fu*king Christ what the fu*k are you guys doing.”
(h/t @MrBuckBuckNBA)
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) April 23, 2025
Redick was asked after the game what he was frustrated about.
“[It was] not frustration, just coaching,” he said. “I think we were organized in the right spots, and we ran some good stuff. Frankly, I thought we missed some open threes. AR (Austin Reaves) got some great looks. So, I mean other than the couple kind of disorganized plays, we played good offense tonight. As a coach, you can see it coming. On the other side of that, on the horizon it was building. I just wanted to make sure everybody was on the same page.”
Redick also explained that he used the timeout to reinstall a sense of urgency in the players.
“I’ve done that in a game a handful of times in six preseason games, 82 regular season games. What is it, 90 total games? I’ve done it a handful of times. It’s not something that I want to do, but it’s something I’m more than comfortable doing. I think tonight was really just more about getting that urgency button switched back on,” Redick added.
In the clip, Redick can be heard yelling multiple curse words at the players and looked to be incredibly frustrated and upset. Redick is a self-proclaimed psycho and his personality certainly came out in that viral moment.
As a competitor himself, Redick is subject to the same level of heightened emotions and stress the playoffs can bring though as a head coach there are times where he can be a little more composes. In this case, though, the passionate call for more urgency was warranted as Los Angeles felt like it could have let the game slip away.
Instead, Redick’s tactic worked as the team responded with a run that kept the Timberwolves at bay. He has a good understanding of what the Lakers need from a game-to-game perspective and it’ll be interesting to see if that trend continues on the road.
Jeanie Buss trusted Rob Pelinka with JJ Redick hire
Lakers governor Jeanie Buss has empowered president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka to make crucial decisions for the franchise. Those decisions included JJ Redick’s hiring, which Buss and Pelinka have to be pleased with so far.
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