Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick spoke on Apr. 16 about his development during his first two seasons leading the team. Since joining the Lakers before the 2024-25 season, Redick has guided the team to back-to-back seasons with more than 50 wins and top-four finishes in the Western Conference, despite challenges in both years.
Redick’s comments come as the Lakers prepare for a playoff series against the Houston Rockets, a matchup where they are not favored due to injuries to key players Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. The team’s performance under Redick marks an improvement compared to previous years, when they had only one 50-win season since 2010-11 and one top-six finish in the conference since 2011-12.
Reflecting on his journey so far, Redick said after the regular season finale: “It was fine. You can always get better at some stuff, that’s the beauty of this job and this profession.” He continued, “I actually was thinking about it today on my drive in, I’m just so excited for this week and I’m just so excited for this series, because there are things I’ve learned over the past two regular seasons and one playoff series that I’m excited about for this upcoming stretch. There’s going to be another opportunity to grow, another opportunity that will test me. That perpetual growth opportunity is the beauty of this.”
Redick also shared his enthusiasm for preparing between seasons: “I’m just so excited for this week…because there are things I’ve learned over the past two regular seasons and one playoff series that I’m excited about for this upcoming stretch.” Last year’s playoff loss against Minnesota gave him lessons he hopes will help during these playoffs.
Lakers center Deandre Ayton discussed facing Houston in their next series: “They’ve been known as a physical team from since I gotten into the league,” Ayton said. “It’s something that they play hard and they play physical, and that’s the fun part about the postseason. The physicality turns up a little bit, and they let us play and I like that. Good to get a little anger out.”
The Lakers will look to apply what they have learned from past experiences as they enter another challenging postseason.
