Home/NBA
feature-image

via Imago

feature-image

via Imago

“He’s a great coach. I know it’s only his first year, but it don’t feel like it. It feels like he’s been here for 15 years” said Luka Doncic about JJ Redick weeks after being traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. The duo has reportedly held a good bond over the last few months, with the Slovenian even once claiming that Redick makes his “life easier”. However, thanks to him representing the EuroLeague 2025, Luka is currently learning under the guidance of a different head coach. From the looks of it, the Lakers star is certainly enduring a stricter regime under the Team Slovenia HC.

Social media users on X recently shared clips of Luka Doncic and the team’s recent matchup against Team Poland. As the game was in its first quarter, an incident occurred when Luka was captured heading to talk to the referees after a foul call. The next part of the clip showed Team Slovenia HC, Aleksander Sekulić, making a ‘zip your mouth’ gesture to someone. A netizen asked, “Was Sekulic telling Luka to shutup?? Bc that’s a level of boldness/tenacity I haven’t seen from him before 🤔”.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

No official news sources have confirmed that Sekulić was talking to Luka Doncic when telling him to shut his mouth. The head coach, over the last few weeks, has been speaking up in support of his star player. When discussing the Lakers star’s weight loss and improvement in conditioning, Sekulić said that “Luka has changed his way of working, and whether he is more prepared or not, we will see. He can’t be at his peak now; he has only just started training in terms of basketball. He is not the real Doncic yet, and we all know what that looks like on the court.” The HC does not have too many expectations from the 5x NBA All-Star. Despite this, he is allegedly looking to control Luka Doncic’s ‘outbursts’ if he can. For netizens, this is much more than what JJ Redick does with the point guard/shooting guard.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

NBA Fans Criticize JJ Redick After Aleksander Sekulić Allegedly Shut Down Luka Doncic

One social media user reacted to the video of Sekulic allegedly telling Luka to ‘shut up’ by writing “jj reddick take notes”.

Luka Doncic has often, in the past, been aggressive in criticizing some calls that referees make. As ‘Last Words on Sports’ once reported, “Luka Doncic has gotten a fair share of technicals because he feels he doesn’t get enough calls”. In the past, JJ Redick had instances where he also bashed the officials. However, the Lakers’ HC never did make a ‘zip your mouth’ gesture towards Luka Doncic.

One individual wrote, “Great coaching, show some backbone. 👍”.

It isn’t as if JJ Redick hasn’t shown backbone when it comes to the 5x NBA All-Star. After the Los Angeles Lakers were eliminated from the playoffs by the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Lakers’ HC said that, during the off-season, he wanted a certain player to focus on conditioning, which was reportedly a subtle jab at Luka Doncic and others. As Redick stated, “We have a ways to go as a roster, and certainly there are individuals that were in phenomenal shape, there are certainly other ones that could’ve been in better shape. That’s where my mind goes immediately”.

article-image

via Imago

One social media user wrote, “I want jj to do that too lol”. With JJ Redick looking to have his players in ‘championship shape’ next season, we can potentially see the head coach adopting a stricter approach too. If he does plan on doing it, however, then he has yet to reveal details of the same.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

One individual said about Aleksander Sekulić that “Not like he has anything to lose”. This comment comes right after Team Slovenia lost 6 of its 7 EuroBasket 2025 preparation games, and the team’s first main game against Poland. One social media user wrote, “This is literally better than saying nothing”. Well, it remains to be seen whether JJ Redick adopts Aleksander Sekulić’s ideas for future situations.

Overall, the majority of reactions saw fans united in praising Aleksander Sekulić, while a few others did that at the expense of criticizing JJ Redick.

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT