Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick has said they are ready for the upcoming NBA season. This will be the first time when Redick will coach in the NBA and he will have his work cut out.
The Lakers so far have a 2-3 W-L record in the preseason and registered a 128-122 win against Phoenix Suns on Thursday. Redick’s men will play their last preseason match against the Golden State Warriors before they begin their campaign against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
“We’re ready. Just continue to build trust with what we’re doing,” Redick said. “… Our off-ball roles were very clear, they are very clear. We practiced that, we worked on it again today. … I thought our guys, when they were in lock and trail and chasing and following our off-ball screening rules, they did a really nice job.”
On the other hand, LeBron James finished the preseason with averages of 12 points on 46.9% shooting (57.1% from 3), 4.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 3.0 turnovers in 18.5 minutes over three games. Redick said the veteran will sit out against the Dubs in the last preseason match.
“DNP-old,” Lakers coach JJ Redick joked about James’ reason for rest during his pregame remarks Thursday. ” Taking it out of [Gregg Popovich’s] book.”
With James and Rui Hachimura (calf tightness) not playing against the Suns, Redick admitted things don’t necessarily go according to plans.
“I think you have to look at all of the factors and you don’t often get to live in an idealized world in this league, and that’s OK,” Redick said. “You don’t get to live out things exactly the way you want in this league very often, and that’s fine. We did have a dress rehearsal — game-day shootaround, film session, all of that — today. And we’ll do the same for our pregame. It’s just the first time we’ve done that all preseason.
“So, we’ve still gotten to do some stuff we’ve wanted to do.”
The Lakers will begin their NBA 2024-25 campaign against the Minnesota Timberwolves on 22nd October at the Crypto.com arena.
