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JJ Redick Reveals Powerful Message Lakers Assistant Told Him About Luka Doncic

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Ashish Mathur | Last updated Apr 10, 2025 10:42 PM ET

After the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Dallas Mavericks in Luka Doncic's return game, JJ Redick revealed a powerful message one of his assistant coaches told him.

Doncic cried when the Mavericks played their video tribute to him during the Lakers' starting lineup introductions. Doncic received emotional support from all of his teammates and that resonated with Los Angeles assistant coach Greg St. Jean.

"Greg said to me, 'This is going to be awesome for our group to go through this with him and for him to go through this with them.' Does that mean we're going to win an NBA championship or get to the conference finals? I don't know," Redick said, via ESPN. "But it was an awesome moment for everyone."

Doncic, who put up 45 points against his old team while hitting seven 3-pointers, really appreciated that his Lakers teammates supported him in his emotional return game.

"Big time because they all had my back," Doncic said. "Everybody had my back, from coaches to players. And we're trying to build something special here. That was really, really, really nice to see."

The Lakers have championship aspirations with Doncic, LeBron James and Austin Reaves leading the way. They are currently in third place in the Western Conference standings with a record of 49-31.

Doncic and the Lakers have two games left in the regular season. They need to win at least one of those games to clinch the third seed in the West playoffs.

Los Angeles faces the Houston Rockets and Portland Trail Blazers to close out the 2024-25 regular season.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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