Coaching LeBron James isn’t just about Xs and Os—it’s about knowing when to speak up, when to listen, and when to get told to ‘f— off.’ For sophomore head coach JJ Redick, navigating that balance with a 41-year-old basketball savant has required a level of blunt, unfiltered communication rarely discussed publicly. And as Redick recently admitted, those exchanges between coach and superstar can get very NSFW.

It’s not dysfunction. It’s trust. And in Redick’s eyes, it’s a sign that James has fully embraced a new phase of his career—one where autonomy, intellect, and mutual respect matter more than rigid hierarchy.

James has a way of silencing people, too. That’s why Redick admitted, “I’m his catcher. I’ve figured out how to call the pitches. Sometimes he tells me to f— off, and he calls his own pitch, which is fine too.”

It’s usually not a great thing for a player to cuss at the head coach. But King James gets a pass.

LeBron James and Luka Doncic had 30 points each tonight. Bron added eight assists and rebounds each with two blocks and a steal. Redick is very pleased by this dynamic and claimed it’s a positive change in James.

While James has changed his play style to remain productive at 41, Redick claims he has not ‘recalculated’ how he coaches him. “Because I know LeBron and I know how much he puts into this.” He compares James to Greg “Mad Dog” Maddox, the baseball Hall of Fame player who traded raw physical athleticism for intellectual athletic mastery, playing 23 MLB seasons.

Only yesterday, Rich Paul, Bron’s agent, said that the Lakers need to have better communication with their star players. This just proved him right.

For Redick, this open communication helps him utilize the veteran forward better. “We have conversations sometimes in games: ‘How’s your three-ball feel?’ ‘Okay.’ ‘All right, I’m going to run the softball play for you,’ or ‘I’m going to put you in this spot versus the pick-and-roll because I know that you’ll end up with the shot.’ And it’s really just that ongoing dialogue with him. To me, what he’s doing at 41, what he did last year at 40, it’s greatness. It’s just a different form of greatness.”

The effectiveness shows in games like tonight. So Redick is happy to take an F-bomb or two.

LeBron James is fixing the Lakers’ communication gap

For once, it was not Luka Doncic with the game-high points in a Lakers game. It was Pelicans’ Trey Murphy who had 42 points, which weren’t enough to tide New Orleans over.

It was all about LeBron James tonight. Redick used his newest strategy to employ Bron in limited spurts across all quarters. He had a late-game explosion, making his most points, 10, in the final quarter and taking pressure off Luka as a closer.

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Redick was thrilled to see a complete game from James tonight, as well as his partnership with Doncic.

“He just kind of took over to start the fourth, and that group got us the lead back. I love what’s happening right now with Luka and LeBron and that partnership, whether it’s pick-and-roll with each other or other sets. We ran ‘stack’ against their blitz; Jackson gets a layup, then Luka tells LeBron to back-cut next time, and he gets the lob on the very next play. There’s some real synergy happening right now, and it’s fun to watch.”

The fact that his stars are communicating is huge. While their defensive issues persist, the offense broke down a few games ago because of communication gaps. James was taking free throws before JJ Redick sent Luka to the line.

Deandre Ayton complained about a lack of touches, ATOs were flubbed, assists had dipped, just a lot for people to take notice.

And maybe onlookers felt that Redick was putting too much blame on LeBron to reshape the team’s identity by the end of January. But from the sound of it, they have the relationship to cuss each other out and still stand on business.