After the Los Angeles Lakers got off to a scorching 3-0 start to the 2024-25 regular season, the team has since lost its momentum. The Lakers just wrapped up a five-game road trip, and Los Angeles won just one of those contests.
The team is also on the heels of a 17-point loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday in what was the final game of the trip. In light of the loss, Los Angeles now sits at the .500 mark on the season at 4-4.
When speaking to reporters following Los Angeles’ fourth loss of its last five games, head coach J.J. Redick was asked how he can address the fact that the Lakers need more guys to play harder. He provided a bold answer before dropping his mic and walking away.
JJ with the mic drop after being asked about this 😳 pic.twitter.com/skA7LrGmE0
— Oh No He Didn't (@ohnohedidnt24) November 7, 2024
“I just did,” Redick said.
Once he got up to leave the press conference, Redick apparently shouted one more message toward reporters.
“First thing I said to them,” he said.
It sounds like Redick delivered a message to his team before he even began his press conference.
Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell was one player that Redick implied didn’t play hard enough. Redick took him out of the game partway through the third quarter and didn’t call his name for the rest of the contest.
JJ Redick on why he benched D-Lo the 2nd half:
"At times he's been really good, other times, he's reverting back to certain habits."
— Lakers Daily (@LakersDailyCom) November 7, 2024
JJ Redick said D’Angelo Russell only played 22 minutes tonight because of Russell’s “level of compete” and “attention to detail.” He said he felt Russell reverted to old habits and Redick wanted to see more of Gabe Vincent out there.
— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) November 7, 2024
Russell finished with 12 points on 4-of-12 shooting from the field and 2-of-9 shooting from 3-point range against the Grizzlies. He’s been struggling to score the ball efficiently all season long, as he has converted just 37.5 percent of his looks from the field and 29.2 percent of his 3s so far.
The Lakers can try to redeem themselves for their unsuccessful road trip during their upcoming home stand. Los Angeles will play each of its next three games at Crypto.com Arena, and all of those contests stand out as winnable for the Lakers.
The storied franchise will play a depleted Philadelphia 76ers team on Friday, a rebuilding Toronto Raptors squad on Sunday and the Grizzlies again next Wednesday.
If the Lakers were to string together three consecutive wins, the team would be sitting pretty in the Western Conference standings with a 7-4 record.
