After LeBron James’ public support, JJ Redick clarifies ‘weird request’ over basketballs

LA Lakers head coach JJ Redick clarified his request to the NBA to change the game balls in the wake of LeBron James extending his support.


After LeBron James’ public support, JJ Redick clarifies ‘weird request’ over basketballs

JJ Redick clarifies request to NBA for basketballs as LeBron James issues support.

JJ Redick kicked off his head coaching career in the NBA with a blistering win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on opening night. But the real magic came after the game when Redick put forth his weird request to the NBA about the league’s game balls.

After finding support in LeBron James, Redick clarified the intentions behind his ‘new ball’ conundrum which he had put forth. After Tuesday night’s victory, Lakers HC JJ Redick emphasized the issues that brand-new basketballs caused to the team’s shooting from deep.

The Lakers shot just 5-30 from deep in their first game, perhaps because of the issues posed by the ball, according to Redick. During the Lakers’ latest practice session, however, Redick clarified what he meant by his demand for the league to use ‘worn-in’ basketballs.

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Hopefully you’ll understand that sometimes when I go on these things, I am being half serious. But it’s also, I admit, i know where the balls come from. We, early, will figure out where the good basketballs are in this gym.

JJ Redick explained

Redick admitted that he was mostly joking about the situation with the ‘new basketballs’ affecting the dismal shooting performance of his team. However, he clarified that the Lakers would be looking for the ‘good balls’ in their facility and would carry them over to their next games.

Earlier, James had also extended his support to Redick’s comments. The Lakers star has played an outspoken role in supporting the hiring of the Lakers’ new HC. The duo of James and Redick had opened a podcast called ‘Mind the Game’ just days before Redick was finalized for the Lakers coaching job.

JJ Redick’s plan to empower Anthony Davis

JJ Redick has brought about drastic changes to the Lakers organization since taking over as the team’s coach. Through the preseason and the season opener, the Lakers offense has looked completely different from previous iterations. A lot of this has to do with Redick’s plan to feature Anthony Davis more prominently in the team’s offense.

We’re going to empower him as much as he wants to be empowered. If he wants to be First Team All-NBA and wants to be in the MVP conversation all year long, we’re going to empower him to do that.

JJ Redick said on The Lowe Post podcast in September

Over the course of the offseason, Redick made it clear that he planned to empower Davis‘ play to an MVP level. This seems to have aided the team, which desperately needed a kickstart in an offensive system that often felt stale during the last few seasons.

This new offense involves Davis heavily. The Lakers star rewarded his coach’s faith in him with a statement performance in his opening game. Davis finished the game with 36 points and 16 boards to dominate the Timberwolves.