JJ Redick and Austin Reaves omitted from Coach of the Year and MIP awards angers Lakers fans: “Motivation. Use it JJ.”

Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick had coached Austin Reaves and his teammates to rise above the rest to end up third in the West.

JJ Redick and Austin Reaves omitted from Coach of the Year and MIP awards angers Lakers fans: “Motivation. Use it JJ.”

Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick and Austin Reaves

Fans of the Los Angeles Lakers did not like how their team lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first game of their playoff series. They believe head coach JJ Redick has to coax LeBron James, Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves and the others to wake up and bring their effort back.

Another such situation happened before Doncic came to the West coast. The Lakers had a terrible run of games where they were blown out by their opponent’s night in and night out. After one of those games, Reaves mentioned that the team needs to play better.

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Redick was not so calm when he mentioned that the team’s performance was an aberration. Since then, the men in purple and gold brought their energy and effort back. Once Doncic joined, that collective effort saw the Lakers move to the top of the league in both offensive and defensive efficiency.

JJ Redick started to show why the franchise was right to give him the reins. Watching this, many believed the first-year coach was a solid candidate to win the Coach of the Year award. He had dragged the team with a few deficiencies to third in the West.

At the same time, Austin Reaves gave enough evidence that he was a legitimate third option. His scoring, playmaking, efficiency etc. were all up through the roof. Fans believed the 26-year-old guard was a shoe in for the Most Improved Player award.

Ahead of tonight’s playoff games, the crew of Inside the NBA announced the candidates for all the NBA’s end of season awards. They read out the names of each candidate corresponding to their respective awards.

Fans fume after JJ Redick and Austin Reaves were not nominated

What particularly interested Los Angeles Lakers fans were those two categories. They saw that both JJ Redick and Austin Reaves did not get a nomination into the Coach of the Year as well as Most Improved Player awards.

They were not that surprised by the other COTY nominees, but still felt Redick should have been nominated. But when it came to the MIP nominees, they were shocked that Reaves was overlooked despite the stellar performances he has put up this season. Lakers fans took to social media to vent on the nominations. Check out examples of those comments below.

JJ Redick would have had a better chance at getting a nomination had the Los Angeles Lakers finished second in the West. But since the Houston Rockets overtook them and the Detroit Pistons’ stellar turnaround left no questions in the minds of voters, the first-year head coach lost out.

Magic Johnson details what went wrong for Lakers in 1st playoff loss

Fans want JJ Redick and Austin Reaves to use these snubs as motivation when they welcome the Minnesota Timberwolves for Game 2 of their 1st round series. Magic Johnson has already been critical of their performance but now came out with details on where it went wrong.

On the defensive end – they allowed the Timberwolves to shoot over 51% from the field and they didn’t respond to the physical play of the Timberwolves. Last but not least, it was too much standing around on the Lakers offense and players watching the Lakers big three, Reeves, Doncic and James, go one-on-one.

Magic Johnson wrote

The Hall of Famer believes the Los Angeles Lakers need better productivity from the bench. Along with that, they need to bring back the effort that saw them streak to second place in the West. He believes if those two problems are solved and they match the physicality of the Timberwolves, they should be fine.