The Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the 2025 playoffs in five games. Lakers head coach JJ Redick played Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, LeBron James, Rui Hachimura and Dorian Finney-Smith the entire second half of Game 4 and didn’t play Jaxson Hayes at all in Game 5 despite Rudy Gobert destroying the Lakers.
Redick didn’t coach well in his first postseason, but we can’t ignore the job he did in the regular season as a first-year head coach. The Lakers won 50 games and were the third seed in the West.
So even though Redick was pretty bad in the playoffs, Lakers beat reporter Jovan Buha of The Athletic doesn’t expect Redick to be fired.
“I would be shocked if JJ Redick is not back as the Lakers coach,” Buha said. “And again, I think a week ago, people were singing his praises. I understand the criticism. I understand the backlash, but I still think JJ is a a good young coach with a lot of potential and some things he should learn from this series.”
Doncic and James don’t want Redick to be fired. Both superstars praised their coach after Game 5 on Wednesday.
“I think he’s a hell of a coach,” Doncic said. “I’m really glad I got coached by him these couple of months. It feels sometimes like I’m back in Europe a little bit. So I love it. We have a great bond. It’s been nothing but amazing with him as a coach.”
Added James: “I think JJ’s going to continue to grow. Thought he had a hell of a rookie campaign for a rookie coach. And it’s a lot different being a rookie coach. It’s already hard being a rookie coach in the NBA. And it’s a hell of a lot harder being a rookie head coach coaching the Lakers. It’s a whole nother ballgame. And I thought he handled it extremely well. I thought he just learned every single day, held us accountable. He pushed us.”
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