It’s going to take some time for Lakers fans — and head coach JJ Redick — to move past these playoffs. It wasn’t a great showing by Redick, highlighted by his Game 4 decision to play the same lineup for the entire second half.
Not only was it detrimental in that contest, but it likely cost the team the series and their postseason hopes, as the defeat dropped them to a 3-1 hole in the series they didn’t get out of. The reactions from fans and analysts were strong, but at least according to LeBron James, the team did not share the same feelings.
On his latest episode of the “Mind The Game” podcast, LeBron was asked by co-host Steve Nash for his reaction to playing the entire second half. After discussing how he felt physically, he made sure to point out there was no second-guessing from the players.
It certainly means something that LeBron is defending his head coach. And not only is he doing that, he’s deflecting blame from Redick. As always, LeBron knows the weight of his words and how much his words matter, so him backing his head coach and saying it was the players fault is not insignificant.
LeBron also spoke about how he felt during that second half and after, though he again defended Redick.
To a certain extent, this is what you’d expect from LeBron overall in defending his coach. But considering he did this on his podcast, where he could control what was and wasn’t said, it feels notable that he chose to address it
