With two of their biggest stars sidelined, the Los Angeles Lakers opened their preseason with a 124-107 loss to the Timberwolves on Friday at the Acrisure Arena. Bron and Davis sat out during the first exhibition game, as their new coach JJ Redick cited their recent Olympic gold medal win in Paris, and their workload in the training camps as the reason. The big changes to the lineup did affect the franchise, as LeBron James‘ son Bronny suited up for the first time. As shocking as it sounds, JJ Redick does have a few things to say about this tough learning lesson.

In the post-game pressers, Redick revealed how he used this matchup to actually analyze the players in three key areas. This included “Our organization, our talk, and our level of compete”.

After the game’s conclusion, the 40-year-old coach could safely say, “I thought the third one, we had that at a really high level. The other two, we gotta get better, I think schematically defensively.”

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Any lapses that came either from him or his players’ side, Redick was ready to forgive since the preparation for the pre-season debut wasn’t on the same level as it would be for the regular season.

“This was not a ‘game-plan’ game for us,” Redick revealed. “There is some stuff that frankly, in three days of practice, in a walkthrough, shoot-around, you’re just not gonna be able to cover. But overall, I think our guys played with the right intent. I thought offensively, we really moved the basketball well at times. And we got off to a slow start there, and you know sometimes that can hurt your defense. But there is a lot of good things we can take away from this game.”

Redick’s explanation over the Lakers’ loss came right after Bronny James revealed an unknown belief of his. Despite his poor debut, the 19-year-old knew that things could have been worse not only for him but for his teammates as well. Giving his flowers to JJ Redick, he stated, “He’s (Redick) a great coach so far. It’s been amazing vibes in the facility so far. I feel like it’s upped the vibes from what it was last year from what I’ve heard.”

This could be a dig at Darvin Ham, who led the Lakers during the previous two seasons and someone who LeBron James reportedly wasn’t a big fan of. Through their remarks, both player and coach have shown that the team has adopted a positive outlook, at least for the season’s early stage.

Despite the early disappointment, the recent game wasn’t all bad for the Lakers. The MVP from the Lakers side turned out to be rookie Dalton Knecht, who led the scoring effort alongside Austin Reaves with his 16 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists. With Knecht being on the right side, Redick is now waiting for the team’s other rookie, aka Bronny, to have his moment to shine. If there is anything that fans learned from the recent presser, it is that the coach is not giving up on LeBron’s eldest so soon.

JJ Redick shows faith in Bronny James’ progress: “I’m rooting for him”

With the Timberwolves matchup being his debut game as well, LeBron James’ son wanted to leave behind a good impression. He had a good start after successfully recreating his father’s iconic ‘The Block’ from the 2016 NBA Finals. Through this, he was able to prevent Nickeil Alexander-Walker from gaining the spotlight. However, that block turned out to be the player’s sole highlight, as he would later add only 2 points, 1 rebound, and 1 assist in 16 minutes of playtime. While he was able to make two additional blocks, the young star’s 1-6 shooting would have been quick to cloud over his achievements.

Just like before, however, JJ Redick is adopting a positive outlook. During the same presser, the head coach sent praised Bronny by stating, “We’re really happy with his progress. The kid, you know, he can do some things defensively at his size that are really unique and can I think turn him into a really disruptive defender, and that kind of manifested.”

In regards to the rookie’s offense, Redick is relying on his player development program to build him up more. If successful, not only would Bronny get the chance to play regular season games but also excel in the same. The coach concluded his remarks with a simple, “I’m rooting for him.”

The Los Angeles Lakers will next face the Kevin Durant-led Phoenix Suns. Whether the matchup will provide a much-needed progression to both JJ Redick and Bronny James will only be answered in due course.

Before you go, remember to check out this crossover between BG12 and Georgia Bulldogs star Silas Demary Jr.