Los Angeles Lakers coach JJ Redick is taking some heat for some comments he made after his team was eliminated from the NBA Playoffs on Wednesday.
Redick was accused of hypocrisy over what some saw as him making excuses after the Lakers lost in five games to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference first round. Redick admitted that the Lakers’ playoff rotation had not played together much, and that it might have factored in their defeat.
“We played 13 games with our playoff rotation in the regular season. … These things take time,” Redick said.
Those comments were juxtaposed with Redick’s now-famous rant on ESPN’s “First Take” before he became head coach of the Lakers, in which he accused Doc Rivers of always making excuses for the failures of him and his team. The implication is that Redick is doing the same thing he accused Rivers of doing now that he is a head coach.
JJ Reddick on Doc Rivers last year
— SI (@SI_02_) May 1, 2025
"There's always an excuse… there's never accountability from that guy"
JJ Reddick after the Lakers were eliminated in the first round
"We played 13 games with our playoff rotation… these things take time. It doesn't happen over night" pic.twitter.com/STKJbCtzLh
One could argue that Redick is not quite engaging in the same behavior that he accused Rivers of, but it is not a great look for the Lakers coach. It is certainly easy to criticize others in television, but the stakes and the pressure are much higher now that Redick himself is in the hot seat.
Redick seemingly let the moment get a bit too big for him as the Lakers were facing elimination. He is still a young coach who has shown a lot of promise, so this can ideally be a learning experience for him if he takes the right lessons from it.
