The Los Angeles Lakers were eliminated by the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night, and the blame quickly shifted to first-year head coach JJ Redick. It was not the first time he was unflatteringly compared to Darvin Ham. There was the baffling Game 4 decision to play the same five players for 24 straight minutes and things did not get better in Game 5. Redick used Maxi Kleber in the fourth quarter in the forward’s first action since January.
This was the first time the Lakers lost in the first round of the playoffs when they were third seed or higher. Redick’s team got dominated inside after going small. It was the first game the coach refused to play Jaxson Hayes, and Rudy Gobert feasted with 27 points and 24 rebounds. Everything went wrong for the Lakers in this series and much must be done to build a serious contender around Luka Doncic.
Darvin Ham often took the blame last season. There were countless head-scratching decisions from the former head coach as the Lakers crashed out in five games in last year’s first round. Redick did no better in his first season.
JJ Redick’s baffling decisions force the Lakers to suffer same fate as with Darvin Ham
Redick was the first coach in the tracking era to play just five players in a half. The Lakers felt like their backs were against the wall, but LA was up ten heading into the fourth quarter in Game 4. They could have bought Luka and LeBron a few minutes on the bench. Even if Minnesota outscored them by five before a timeout, that may have given the star duo the gas to push LA over the line.
Gobert was crushing the Lakers in Game 5, but Redick did not counter. Ham constantly caught heat from fans for being slow to adjust. Those same supporters were frustrated with Redick’s showing in the final two games.
JJ Redick is the reason the Lakers are getting embarrassed.
— Key (@PleaseMasai) May 1, 2025
No, that’s not me saying Darvin Ham is a better coach, I’m just saying Redick has been terrible. pic.twitter.com/gPAxpcy5hV
Overall, it was a strong first season for the rookie head coach. Redick did plenty of positive things, but he was outclassed by Chris Finch in this series. The Timberwolves made the conference finals in 2024 and will have a strong case to return this year. Finch leaned on that experience to dominate LA.
The Lakers had a flawed roster after the Luka Doncic trade, and the Timberwolves took advantage. It is not just the on-court product that must improve. Redick has to be better. He needs to trust his bench in the first round of the playoffs and make adjustments as things get out of hand. Those lessons come with experience. Redick cannot afford a second straight disaster, so he must learn them now.
The excitement about JJ Redick heading into the playoffs is gone. He suffered the same fate as Darvin Ham and Los Angeles Lakers fans are frustrated with the baffling decisions. It is on Redick to be better moving forward or the seat will quickly get hot for the former podcaster.