Lakers' JJ Redick storms out of press conference after 'playing hard' question

11/07/2024 02:49 PM

On Wednesday evening, the Los Angeles Lakers dropped their fourth game in five tries with a loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on the road. Playing without Anthony Davis and Rui Hachimura in the lineup, the Lakers were playing from behind throughout most of the game despite a red hot shooting night from LeBron James.

Much of the postgame chatter in this one surrounded the Lakers’ effort level and the fact that D’Angelo Russell was seemingly benched for his subpar performance in that department during the third quarter.

After the game, Redick was asked how he addresses the effort issues.

“I just did,” answered Redick, before storming out of the press conference.

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While the Lakers were on the tail end of a prolonged road trip Wednesday in Memphis, they weren’t playing on the back end of a back to back–in fact, no one in the league was, as no games were played on Tuesday evening.

There was also the fact that the Grizzlies were missing some key contributors in this one, including Marcus Smart and Desmond Bane.

Was the Lakers’ hot start a fluke?

Just over a week ago, things were running smoothly in the City of Angels, as the Lakers had gotten off to a perfect 3-0 start and had taken down some expected playoff teams in the process.

However, Los Angeles is now just 1-4 on the road following Wednesday’s defeat at the hands of the Grizzlies, and are hoping that Anthony Davis’ injury won’t be something that keeps him out of the lineup for a prolonged period of time.

Over the first three victories, the Lakers looked like a different team than the one that was coached by Darvin Ham the last two years, launching more threes and staying more connected on defense as a unit.

However, on the road trip, both of those areas started to diminish, and Los Angeles suffered a couple of embarrassing losses, including a game against the Detroit Pistons, who are expected to be among the worst teams in the league this year.

The good news is that LeBron James is still playing at an elite level less than two months out from turning 40 years old. However, if he is consistently the one giving the most effort for the Lakers, they won’t go very far this season.

Los Angeles will next take the floor back at home on Friday evening vs the Philadelphia 76ers.

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