The Los Angeles Lakers, much to the delight of many basketball fans, were unceremoniously bounced from the NBA Playoffs via a 4-1,gentlemen’s sweep at the hands of the Minnesota Timberwolves.
JJ Redick’s mystfying decison to play his second halfstating unit or the entiriety of the second half of Game 4 has been one of the most discussed and questioned moves of the series.
When asked about it prior to Game 5 , rather than stand in the proverbial heat of answering tough questions, Redick in a manner befitting of a petulant child threw a hissy fit and stormed out of the presser.
Long-time LeBron James pom pom waver Brian Windhordst was surprisingly critical of the Lakers head coach. The ESPN personality offered pointed criticism of Redick with the following on a recent episode of Get Up:
Brian Windhorst says JJ Redick is coaching immaturely:
He was still seething and upset about the previous games to the point Reggie Miller said on the broadcast last night he had to try to calm him down in the pregame meeting because JJ was acting, frankly, childishly.”
He walked off and stormed off in the pregame session with reporters. Regardless of what the question is, its not the way to start. And then not only did he double down on his, frankly, irrational decision not to substitute for an entire half in a playoff game, he doubled down on that. Then in this game, he played a guy who hadn’t played in three months ahead of centers he had on his roster. He played Maxi Kleiber; he’d never even practiced with the Lakers. Maxi Kleiber is on the court with 5 minutes to go, in a two-possession game. That is not a rational decision. “
The Lakers finished the season 50-32 and were the 3rd seed in the Western Conference. Despite all the derision that then-coach Darvin Ham received last season, the Lakers 2025 season ended in the same place the 2024 one did.
