J.J. Redick has yet to coach a game in the NBA, but the new Los Angeles Lakers head coach is already having to respond to a voting decision he made about one of his players — in this case, Anthony Davis.
“Anthony Davis is one of the two or three best defensive players in the NBA”
JJ Redick responds to @termineradio’s question about his decision to leave the #Lakers star center off his media All-Defensive ballot with @jumpshot8 and Ryan McDonough at #NBA2KSummerLeague pic.twitter.com/finX38WRBm
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) July 13, 2024
“Well, there’s a big difference in being a top 10 defender and making an All-Defense team,” Redick said. “There’s a distinction between the two. Anthony Davis is one of the two or three best defensive players in the NBA.
“… I did this the last two years where I explained all of my votes. And you certainly have to factor in the stats, the advanced stats and then, of course, the team performance on defense. And in both years, I weighed heavily on how the team performed defensively.”
The former ESPN analyst left Davis off his 10-player media ballot for the 2024 NBA All-Defense awards. Yet, Redick is calling Davis one of the top two or three defensive players in the league and saying his recent ballot omission of the big man was based largely on the Lakers’ defensive performance as a team.
This past season, the Lakers ranked 17th in the league in defensive rating. They were 11th in both blocked shots per game and defensive rebounding percentage.
During the 2023-24 NBA campaign, Davis averaged 12.6 rebounds (9.5 defensive rebounds) and 2.3 blocks per game while making a career-high 76 appearances.
Despite being left off Redick’s ballot, Davis was named to the All-Defensive First Team, garnering 151 voting points out of a possible 198. He also was fourth in voting for NBA Defensive Player of the Year.
However, he was unable to help the Lakers avoid the play-in round for a second straight season, and after emerging from there again, they were eliminated by the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs.
Redick was hired to replace Darvin Ham as L.A.’s head coach after Dan Hurley reportedly turned down the job earlier this summer. After getting hired, Redick raved about Davis’ offensive skills and said he wants to use him as a “hub.” The University of Kentucky product averaged 24.7 points per game and shot 55.6 percent from the field last season.
Davis currently is preparing with Team USA for the 2024 Paris Olympics that begin later this month. It will be his second Olympics appearance after he won gold at the 2012 London Games. By winning an NBA title with the Lakers in 2020, he became the eighth player in history to win an NBA championship, NCAA title and Olympic gold medal.
Lakers teammate LeBron James also is a member of Team USA. It will be interesting to see if Redick expresses any ideas about what he sees from his two core superstars as they look to win another gold medal.
