Lakers coach JJ Redick storms out of press conference over weird question

JJ Redick walked out of his pregame press conference after he didn’t seem to like a line of questioning from a reporter on Wednesday night.The first-year head coach and former NBA player was asked about whether he would lean on his assistant coaches in Game 5 against the Timberwolves for player rotations after he had faced some criticism over the decision to play LeBron James and Luka Doncic for the entire second half of the previous contest. Redick did not take the question too kindly and sharply responded with one of his own. “Are you saying that I’m because I’m inexperienced and that was an ‘inexperienced’ decision that I made?” Redick replied.“You think I don’t talk to my assistants about rotations every single timeout?”Seemingly taken aback, the journalist told the Lakers coach, “No, I just think a lot of coaches lean on their assistants in those situations.”Redick was quick to jump back in on the reporter. “As do I.

Every single time.That’s a weird assumption,” he said before getting up and walking out of the press conference. The Lakers are on the brink of being eliminated in the first round, and Redick could have been feeling a bit defensive after even Lakers legend Magic Johnson questioned Doncic and James’ usage in the second half of Game 4. “I dont know if it smart to play LeBron [James] and Luka [Doncic] the entire second half after only having one day of rest between Games 3 and 4,” Johnson posted on X on Sunday after the loss.

“When we needed LeBron to take over in the fourth quarter he couldn’t—he scored 0 points in the fourth.”Prior to taking over as Lakers head coach, Redick worked in broadcasting, covering the NBA for ESPN and hosting a popular NBA podcast.He played 15 seasons in the league, including seven with the Magic....