JJ Redick claims Lakers were not in championship shape

Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick has come under criticism for pushing LeBron James, Luka Doncic and others too far.

JJ Redick claims Lakers were not in championship shape

Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick looking to fix player conditioning (Image via Lakers/X)

The Los Angeles Lakers are now trying to figure out what went wrong in the first-round playoff series against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Based on what they find, GM Rob Pelinka and head coach JJ Redick must devise a plan to fix those problems.

The men in purple and gold had their ups and downs throughout the regular season. Despite those problems, they finished the season third in the West. That gave hope that they had solutions to cover for their roster problems.

All that hope fell flat after the Minnesota Timberwolves exposed the Lakers’ deficiencies. Prime among them was the lack of a big man to control the interior. Their bench struggled mightily, and JJ Redick did not play many of them in the second half of Games 4 and 5.

On the flip side, the starters struggled with fatigue after playing the entire second half of Game 4. Many criticized Redick for not giving his starters some rest. The first-year head coach faced those same questions at the Lakers’ exit interviews earlier today.

I’ll start with the offseason and the work that’s required in an offseason to be in championship shape and we have a ways to go as a roster. There are individuals that were in phenomenal shape, there’s certainly other ones that could have been in better shape. We have to get in championship shape.

JJ Redick said

This response is after the 40-year-old stormed out of the pre-game press conference ahead of Game 5. When adding these two responses, it seems he is fixated on the idea that his team was not conditioned enough to battle in the playoffs. The reporters present found this intriguing.

JJ Redick on his plans for offseason conditioning

Reporters at the Los Angeles Lakers’ exit interviews wanted to understand what JJ Redick meant by getting into championship shape. Since he did not specifically name any players, reporters wanted to know how he was planning on fixing the conditioning problem he is talking about.

We obviously recognize it’s a long season and some guys have routines and it’s not that we’re looking to completely break routines but we do want to have a program in place for each guy so that when they come back in August, September we can build off of that and start training camp in a really good spot conditioning-wise.

JJ Redick said

Redick’s words suggest he is looking to overhaul how his players schedule their offseason. It sounds as if he wants to ensure that the Lakers head into next season with the view of controlling their energy right up until the end of the playoffs.

He still believes the lack of conditioning is what cost them the playoffs. It may be a thinly veiled attack on some of the players who he believes were not in prime shape. The most notable among those will be his starters, especially LeBron James and Luka Doncic.

Managing LeBron James and Luka Doncic’s health will be key

In Games 4 and 5, it was evident that the Los Angeles Lakers did not have the endurance to face the Minnesota Timberwolves. They were faster, bigger, and more athletic, whereas the Lakers were slower. That difference cannot help them compete with the younger teams making waves at the top of the league.

LeBron James and Luka Doncic struggled to keep up with Minnesota Timberwolves
LeBron James and Luka Doncic struggled to keep up with Minnesota Timberwolves (Image via BlockBet/X)

LeBron James is 40 years old, and Luka Doncic struggles with health issues down the stretch. It could be that JJ Redick wants to find solutions to mitigate those problems. Usually, the best way to handle James would be to limit his minutes and focus on helping other players develop.

But Doncic is a different problem. He plays slower, which helps against some teams. But in the playoffs, when the intensity is at an all-time high, he struggles. If Redick can help him return to the times when he would up his athleticism, the Lakers could become an entirely different team.

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