EL SEGUNDO — When JJ Redick was an analyst at ESPN, in his short post-playing stint as a from-the-court perspective on the NBA, he heard the same word over and over again during production meetings. It’s why, Redick said, he believes when you coach or play for the Lakers, your back is always up against the wall.
“I worked at ESPN for three years,” Redick said. “I know what makes the machine work. There’s the “L word,” every production meeting. How can we fit this in?”
Redick continued to speak Sunday afternoon at what could be the final practice of the season, as the Lakers prepared to stave off elimination Monday night in Game 4 after trailing 3-0 in the best-of-seven second-round series against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
“Being on the Lakers, you feel like your back’s against the wall every game,” he said. “So I think the whole season has prepared us to be in a position where we’re in the second round of the Western Conference and being in the mix with a great basketball team.”
The Lakers, on the verge of elimination from the playoffs, weren’t expected to get this far.
They battled through the first round to get past the Houston Rockets in six games, fighting off their foes after dropping Game 5 and 6 after taking a 3-0 lead themselves in the series. Forward Rui Hachimura said he’s using their first-round series victory as fuel, imagining what life was like two weeks ago when the Rockets fell behind the Lakers in what has been an insurmountable deficit in NBA history.
“I thought about how Houston was thinking; we were up 3-0 and they came back, (and) literally they almost got us, It’s crazy,” said Hachimura, who has been one of the Lakers few bright spots by shooting 57.1% from 3-point range on 18.3 points per game against the Thunder. “But I think that’s the mentality we need. It’s one (game) at a time, you know. I think especially with this – this type of team, you know, they – you can’t really make mistakes.”
Redick shared after losing Game 3 by 23 points after leading at halftime for the second consecutive game in the second round series, that even the rotational adjustments – swapping Adou Thiero and Maxi Kleber in for Jake LaRavia and Jarred Vanderbilt – that the results pretty much remained the same against the Thunder.
When asked on Sunday if he had ever had the “what if” thoughts about how the series would have gone if Luka Doncic (who has missed the last 16 games with a Grade 2 left hamstring strain) was available against the Thunder, Redick dismissed the question with a quick response.
“Never,” he said.
Trailing 3-0, a series deficit no NBA team has ever come back from in a playoff series, Redick said he turned back to his messaging from the start of training camp. The first slide on the presentation he gave to the 2025-26 Lakers, simply stated to “win the day.” On Sunday, that meant a mindset check, along with offensive review and defensive preparation for Game 4.
When the Lakers tip off on Monday night against the Thunder, it’ll mean a literal must-win the day. Either way, the current total domination the Lakers have faced against the Thunder hasn’t changed Redick’s viewpoint on his team, their fight back from Doncic and Austin Reaves’ regular season-ending injuries to extend their season into mid-May.
“Not at all,” the Lakers coach said.
Redick continued: “I wish we weren’t in this hole. We’re going to try to be better and we’re going to try and win the game tomorrow and extend the series.”