With the Los Angeles Lakers struggling in their recent road trip, head coach JJ Redick made a significant starting lineup change for Friday night’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers by benching D’Angelo Russell in favor of Cam Reddish.
The Lakers’ bench has been the worst in the league this season when it comes to scoring, so adding Russell to that group gave them a little extra juice as he had 18 points in the win over the 76ers. And then on the other hand, the Lakers’ starting lineup has struggled to defend on the perimeter, so the addition of Reddish also helped that unit.
For a player like Russell to willingly move to the bench though takes selflessness and buy-in, which he said he is willing to do in order to help his team win.
Russell is a former All-Star and is in a contract year, so he easily could have been upset with the move to the bench. Lakers star LeBron James credited his teammate though for being willing to do what is best for the team.
“What allowed it to work was the sacrifices that DLo and Cam have continued to make, and obviously the biggest sacrifice is DLo going to the bench,” James said after the win. “It’s no secret that our bench has been struggling to find ways to score, and the best way to change that is to put a scorer on the bench. DLo came in and gave us a big time push off the bench, and Cam did a good job of trying to make it tough on PG all night, so it was a complement that worked on both sides, offensively and defensively for our ball club.”
It remains to be seen if Russell moving to the bench is temporary or permanent, but his willingness to do it definitely gives Redick more options and the freedom to do what he feels is best for his team.
Russell’s reputation across the league isn’t great, but as James said, his willingness to sacrifice should not go unnoticed.
JJ Redick praises D’Angelo Russell and Cam Reddish for embracing new roles
Lakers head coach JJ Redick made the bold decision to bench D’Angelo Russell for Cam Reddish and he praised them both for embracing new roles.
“I felt both those guys starred in the roles that they had tonight,” Redick said. “Cam took one shot in 27 minutes but had a huge impact on the game. Defensively, Paul George never got going at any point in the game. In the first half, I know we had three smash screen assists coming out of set plays, and I think Cam had two of them. That’s sacrifice, and it’s unselfishness. For DLo, I think he starred in that role as well. Big time pop for us off the bench and a really efficient night for him. He just played really good basketball, but I thought across the board for our group it was a group win.”
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