JJ Redick’s first season in Los Angeles has had some ups and downs, though much more of the former than the latter. After a rocky start, the Lakers have found a groove despite going through a seismic midseason trade.
So, what’s the secret for someone coaching non-children for the first time to have this much success? Well, he simply figured out the cheat code to coaching in the NBA.
After Thursday’s win for the Lakers over the Blazers, Redick shared his revelation of how to win in the NBA.
“I had this revelation like six weeks ago, two months ago,” Redick said. “The math stuff, it’s important. It really is. You try to generate high value shots. You strategize around throw-aheads and what those create. All that stuff, it’s super important. Gameplan defensively, it’s all important. Guys have to communicate, all that stuff.
“There’s only actually one cheat code in the NBA and that’s playing hard. If you play hard every night, you have a chance to win. If you don’t play hard every night, you’re probably going to lose…You give yourself a chance to win every night if you play hard.”
If it only took JJ a handful of months to figure this out, then what is the excuse for everyone else in the NBA? Seems like he pretty easily figured things out!
Setting aside the jokes, it’s nice to see a Lakers coach talk about this, considering how much it has plagued teams in recent years. In the latter stages of Frank Vogel’s tenure and under Darvin Ham, the Lakers were very regularly outworked and struggled with younger teams that played hard.
This Lakers team is not like that, which is a welcome change. And having a head coach who acknowledges that, and has cracked the code, is so refreshing.