Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick has put his mark on the organization in a span of just 63 games. There's a new culture in Los Angeles, with accountability seemingly acting as the most important element of the team's success.
Following the Lakers' disappointing 111-108 loss to the Brooklyn Nets on Monday, Mar. 10, Redick showed the world exactly what accountability looks like.
Redick was relentless, tearing into Los Angeles for taking shortcuts and falling short in the area of communication against a lesser opponent. It was a stunning display of the head coach holding his players accountable in a public setting.
Thankfully, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN, new franchise player Luka Doncic responded to Redick's brutal comments by agreeing with him on what went wrong.
"When JJ said [that] about communication today, that was important," Doncic said. "That's my fault and we should have done better at that."
Doncic elaborated, explaining how he could've done a better job of helping his teammates on a night when they nearly helped the bigger names escape with a win.
"I think I should have helped more," Doncic said when asked about the trio of Vincent, Knecht and Goodwin. "But they all played great. We got to have the same mentality moving forward. Injuries are going to happen and it's got to be a next-man-up mentality."
Considering Doncic said all of this in response to a scathing review from Redick, it's safe to say they've answered the all-important question of if the latter's coaching style fits the new star.
Luka Doncic responding well to JJ Redick's brash coaching style
The Lakers acquired Doncic in one of the most shocking trades in Association history. There were no rumblings about the Dallas Mavericks looking to move the reigning scoring champion, and no one would've believed them if there were considering he'd just led the team to the 2024 NBA Finals.
Factoring in the trade qualifying as unexpected and Doncic not necessarily choosing the Lakers as his preferred destination, questions inevitably arose.
Chief among those concerns was the matter of how Doncic would respond to Redick's coaching style. Redick isn't one to mince words, as he instead shows no hesitation in calling out players of every caliber both behind the scenes and during post-game press conferences.
Doncic is no stranger to hard-nosed coaching, with Rick Carlisle and Jason Kidd sharing similar characteristics in their respective approaches, but there was no guaranteeing he'd be on the same page as Redick.
Thankfully, Doncic responded remarkably well to Redick calling the players out after the Nets loss. It's perhaps the most important development of the season thus far, as the Doncic and Redick pairing is meant to guide the Lakers through not just 2024-25, but future seasons, as well.
If Doncic were to respond unfavorably to Redick's approach to coaching and accountability, that process would've been significantly more difficult to manage.
Instead, the Lakers will move forward with their head coach and franchise player on the same page. One can only hope that this will translate to success as the organization searches for ways to win games without injured players such as LeBron James, Rui Hachimura, and Jaxson Hayes.
In the meantime, Lakers fans can rest easily knowing that Doncic and Redick are seeing eye to eye on the topic of accountability.
