The Los Angeles Lakers are in the middle of a three-game avalanche. Boston took them down, then Orlando continued, and finally Phoenix hit the nail on the head. Yet head coach JJ Redick’s series of excuses hasn’t left the scene. Sometimes the referee falls on his chopping board. And sometimes player preparation becomes the cause. So, the question comes down to one thing: accountability. Kendrick Perkins sees none and takes no time in calling out Redick.

“JJ got more excuses than a brother going to jail. I don’t want to hear that you got a nice time for you to coach. Get the attention of your locker room,” Big Perk blasted his former ESPN colleague on First Take. “When you have one of the worst defensive teams in the league, that is a reflection on the coach.”

At present, the Lakers rank 18th in defense across the league. They have allowed 115.9 points on average. And it looks like they’ve not learned their lesson after an early playoff exit last season. JJ Redick & Co.’s defense continues to be rusty. Meanwhile, Kendrick Perkins handed a harsh reality check to LA.

He cleared the picture for everyone to understand.

• The relationship between LeBron and the Lakers is basically over. It is hanging by a thread, and both sides are just waiting for the season to end to move on.
• The Lakers keep talking about the future, but there are serious doubts about their long-term direction.
• Kendrick Perkins questions whether Austin Reaves and Luka Doncic can truly be the two max contract cornerstones of a championship team.

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Offensively, both players, Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, can score and produce big numbers, so scoring is not the concern. The real issue is defense. Opponents target Luka and score on him 49% of the time, while they hunt Reaves and score on him 48%. Because of that defensive liability, Perkins believes JJ Redick is misguided if he builds a championship team around them as max players.

Now coming back to the Lakers’ 113-110 loss against the Suns on Thursday. Coach Redick was seemingly off during the post-game press conference. Yet he commended his boys for putting up a tough fight while taking some blame on himself.

JJ Redick’s unique response after the Lakers lose to Phoenix

The Phoenix Suns stunned the Lakers when Royce O’Neale drilled a clutch game winning three pointer with 0.9 seconds left. Earlier this week, JJ Redick was visibly furious after Luka Doncic made a strange late pass in a last-second loss to the Orlando Magic. However, this time, despite another crushing finish, Redick delivered a far more surprising and measured reaction to the media.

“We talk about this as stuff. Like, our losses are louder than other teams, ’cause we’re the Lakers, and because of the way we lose,” Redick said. “You get this deep in the season, and, again, tonight was a one-possession clutch game, which, now we’ve lost a few of those. But we’ve been great, for the most part, in the clutch all year. Our losses are louder.”

He added, “I would say, we had some adversity, did we not respond? I thought our guys were great with that tonight. I mean, there’s a basketball’s a game of mistakes, and we made mistakes. Just like I make mistakes.” JJ Redick further admitted he has never coached a perfect game and refused to overreact. He felt his players responded well despite the loss.

The Lakers are loud, leaking, and staring at a mirror they keep avoiding. Three straight losses have cracked the shine, and now accountability sits center stage. Perkins throws punches at the vision, while Redick preaches patience and perspective. So yes, the noise is rising. And in Los Angeles, noise always demands answers.