With all that's been written about the Los Angeles Lakers' youthful roster, many have forgotten that their head coach is also young and relatively inexperienced. Not that you'd know by his record over the past two seasons. But JJ Redick hasn't scratched the surface of what he can become as a leader of the Lakers. What we've seen from him so far is the worst he'll ever be on the sidelines. This will become a hidden advantage for the Lakers with each month that passes and supplies Redick with more mileage.
We're already seeing some improvements from Redick. Last year, I got on Redick for not always holding players accountable, particularly LeBron James. And let's be clear -- it's much easier to hold 21-year-old, unproven pros accountable than GOAT-types, but Redick's doing a markedly better job with the assignment in 2026-27 so far, from what one can ascertain from the preseason.
JJ Redick has markedly improved as a standard-setter for Lakers
In a phrase, Redick's not messing around this year. On Tuesday, in LA's second preseason game, Redick called a timeout less than a minute into the game and did his trademark stomp out to the middle of the court to keep his anger from boiling over. At the start of what became a blowout at the hands of the Golden State Warriors, Redick's Lakers were already showing signs of poor form.
Within the first sixty seconds, the Lakers looked a step slow, allowing second-chance points and turning the ball over. Redick later said that he called a timeout because the Lakers had botched a play that he'd scripted 10 days ago and that LA was "not ready to play". The early timeout in a preseason contest was demon/sicko stuff from Redick, and if you're a Lakers fan, you absolutely love to see it.
Redick is establishing a high standard for these Lakers, and it looks like he's a year older and more prepared to hold firm to that standard as the ebbs and flows of the season manifest in the months to come.
Redick has been outspoken about the fact that he still expects these Lakers to compete and win, even when they aren't playing their best players. It's why he framed Tuesday's game (especially the sloppy first half) as "unacceptable", despite the Lakers playing without six of their rotation guys.
Redick reportedly went off on his team at halftime, and they responded by winning the second half, 45-43, and playing with much more physicality.
JJ Redick intends to hold his Lakers accountable in 2026-27
It was a weird back-to-back situation (in the preseason?!) for the Lakers, but don't expect Redick to feel bad for his guys. He knows that this roster won't be able to rely on talent defensively, but will have to exert full effort every night and legitimately improve on a week-to-week basis defensively -- both individually and as a unit -- to be good enough to contend in May.
It's sad to admit, but fans have watched plenty of lazy, star-studded Lakers squads in the past 25 years. Last year's team certainly fell into that category on plenty of nights. But it looks like Redick's trying to avoid that this year, which is a riveting and refreshing development.
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