J.J. Redick Frustrated as Lakers Struggle on 1-4 Road Trip, Focus Shifts to Effort

Los Angeles Lakers coach J.J. Redick surely looked younger than his 40 years upon storming out of Wednesday’s postgame press conference.

Not considerably younger or toddler younger, just lacking the refinement befitting a man his age—if not his NBA head coaching experience.

We all remember the status Mike Gundy once ascribed to 40-year-olds, right?

Frustration undoubtedly got the better of Redick as he digested a 1-4 road trip. Being asked repeatedly to dissect why LeBron James, six months and six days the rookie coach’s junior, exhibited the most effort of any Laker in the trip finale at Memphis simply added up.

Here’s hoping Redick listened to a positive-thinking podcast or slept it off on the flight home. On a roster with its share of inconsistent performers, the coach must set a steady example.

Memphis defeated Los Angeles 131-114 on Wednesday, the Lakers’ second-most lopsided defeat on the trip.

Center Anthony Davis, the team’s leading scorer and rebounder, missed the game with left heel soreness, while an illness kept fellow starter Rui Hachimura out.

James aimed to shoulder the absences as best he could, scoring 39 points on 15-for-24 shooting to go with seven rebounds and six assists.

“I think LeBron was fantastic tonight,” Redick said. “Biggest thing that stood out … he played hard. Almost 40 years old and played the hardest on our team. It says a lot about him.”

Redick showed that singling out can go both ways when he spoke of D’Angelo Russell, who logged only 6:06 of his season-low 22 minutes after halftime. His 12 points were inefficient, Redick thought, as Russell went just 4-for-12 from the floor, including 2-for-9 from deep.

“Just level of compete, attention to detail, some of the things we’ve talked with him about for a couple of weeks,” Redick said. “And at times, he’s been really good with that stuff and other times, it’s just reverting back to certain habits.”

The Lakers are set to return home Friday night, kicking off a three-game homestand against a foe that also has heard enough about the “E” word.

Effort to think of the Philadelphia 76ers without envisioning Joel Embiid, who is serving a three-game suspension for shoving Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Marcus Hayes.

Sidelined in the early season by a knee injury, Embiid took exception to a Hayes column that referenced Embiid’s son and late brother in critiquing the star center’s ability to stay in shape.

Redick merely transferred pressure to the top of a table when he walked out of his media session in Memphis. A follow-up question about how to address effort with seemingly every Laker, but James drew his ire; it already was a popular topic in the postgame.

“It goes back to choices,” Redick said earlier. “It’s something we’ve discussed as a group, and you have a choice every night for how you play. It has nothing to do with making shots. There’s got to be a group of people, seven to eight guys, that make that choice and we’re a really good basketball team.

“We got a handful, two or three, we’re not going to be a good basketball team that night. That’s just the reality."

The Lakers landed in the latter category more often than not during the road trip. Friday brings their next try at reversing course.