Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick turned heads Saturday when he said that his team’s recent struggles, especially on the offensive end, began only after LeBron James returned to the team in late November.
“Since we’ve gotten Bron back, we haven’t been as organized offensively,” Redick said after a practice session. “Too many random possessions. That’s on me. It’s those 3 things: defensive clarity, role clarity and offensive organization.”
Although Redick technically blamed himself for the issues, many perceived it as a shot at James, including NFL legend Shannon Sharpe.
“Stop it!” Sharpe fumed on his “Nightcap” podcast while reacting to Redick’s remarks.
“We don’t need no defensive clarity. You don’t have anyone who can play defense, other than Marcus Smart,” Sharpe continued.
“It’s crystal clear to me that you can’t play defense.”
Redick’s Tendency to Call Out Players
Sharpe also ripped the second-year coach for his tendency to call out players in the media rather than holding himself accountable, while citing Redick’s outburst against Doc Rivers during his time as an ESPN analyst.
“Listen, I think JJ is phenomenal,” Sharpe said. “He understands basketball and can talk about it. But at the end of the day, like he was criticizing Doc, at some point of time, stop telling us what you need to do and get it done.”
“…Bro, we’re 30 games in, and you’re still talking about role clarity and defensive clarity?” Sharpe asked. “I ain’t trying to hear that. Get it done!”
ESPN’s Kendrick Perkins also recently warned Redick that he was alienating his locker room by repeatedly targeting players in the media.
“It’s always everybody else’s fault but not JJ Redick’s. That’s a problem for me.”
Who Did JJ Redick Target?
After the Christmas Day loss to the Houston Rockets, Redick targeted a few players for repeatedly erring on defense, propelling an “uncomfortable” conversation with them.
“It’s a matter of making the choice, and too often we have guys don’t wanna make that choice [of playing defense]. And it’s pretty consistent who those guys are.”
An Eastern Conference executive believes Redick’s rant was aimed specifically at James and Luka Doncic, two of the Lakers’ worst defensive players this season.
“Players are not used to getting called out that hard out in the open, so we’ll see how they take it. JJ was definitely aimed at LeBron and Luka when he said that, we’ll see how they take it,” the exec told Heavy Sports’ Sean Deveney.
Redick put the Lakers through an intense practice session on Saturday after a lengthy film session, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. In the lead-up to the meeting, Redick warned that things could get “uncomfortable” for a few players.
Was it uncomfortable?
“The truth is uncomfortable,” Redick responded, via ESPN. “And so you have to put everything out there, that’s all it is.” Redick described it as a day of “recalibration and reconnection” as his team tries to snap out of its recent three-game losing streak.
The Lakers, who’ve lost six of their last 10 games, look to regroup against the Sacramento Kings on Sunday night.
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This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
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