Los Angeles Lakers coach JJ Redick walked out of his press conference after being asked a question about his team’s work ethic in the aftermath of a huge defeat.
The Lakers fell to 4-4 on the season with a 131-114 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on the road.
That game saw a great effort from the Lakers’ LeBron James that was not replicated by the rest of the LA squad.
After the game, Redick was asked about how he’d address that LeBron put up a better effort than his teammates.
‘I just did,’ Redick told reporters as he stood up and started walking away, adding, ‘First thing I said to them.’
That came after about eight minutes worth of questions – where Redick spent plenty of time bemoaning his team’s lack of effort.
James led the way, scoring 39 points while injuries kept Anthony Davis and Rui Hachimura on the bench.
But as for the rest of the squad, Redick said ‘none of us are’ satisfied with their performance – often not hustling back on defense or matching up with their men.
‘I think LeBron was fantastic tonight. Biggest thing that stood out. … He played hard,’ Redick said. ‘Almost 40 years old and played the hardest on our team. It says a lot about him.’
Redick specifically called out veteran D’Angelo Russell, who logged a season-low 22 minutes and finishing with 12 points on a 4-for-12 shooting line and going 2-of-9 from beyond the arc.
‘Just level of compete, attention to detail, some of the things we’ve talked with him about for a couple of weeks and at times, he’s been really good with that stuff and other times, it’s just reverting back to certain habits,’ Redick said of reducing Russell’s minutes in the second half.
‘But it wasn’t like a punishment. It just felt for us to have a chance to win this game, that was the route we wanted to take.’
It brought to the end a long and tough road trip for LA – which went 1-4, with their sole win coming against the Toronto Raptors.
‘It goes back to choices. It’s something we’ve discussed as a group and you have a choice every night for how you play, it has nothing to do with making shots,’ Redick said.
‘There’s got to be a group of people, seven to eight guys, that make that choice and we’re a really good basketball team. We got a handful, two or three, we’re not going to be a good basketball team that night, that’s just the reality.
‘That’s my biggest takeaway, to be honest.’
