The Showtime Lakers are still grabbing headlines—nearly 10 days after getting bounced by Minnesota. In what’s shaping up to be one of the greatest postseasons in years, L.A. is watching from the sidelines. When JJ Redick took over as a rookie head coach, no one could’ve scripted this. He brought them to the playoffs, coached a generational talent in Luka Doncic, and had all the tools on paper. But in the end, it was Redick’s inexperience that cost him.

Now, his former ESPN colleagues—Jay Williams and Stephen A. Smith—are breaking it all down on The Stephen A. Smith Show, and they’re not pulling punches.

The elephant in the room was the decision not to sub in anyone from the bench. All 5 of LeBron James, Rui Hachimura, Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, and Dorian Finney-Smith played the whole second half without a breather in Game 4. Why, when you have more trusted options on the bench? The decision was always gonna come back to haunt him, especially choosing to let a 40-year-old King to endure that.

“When he engages in battle and he sees red, sometimes that genius gets combated a little bit with the competitive fire where this is what it has to be. And I think that’s something that we still need to see him be fine tuned with. We’ve seen him lose his cool a little bit,” said J Will on the show.

Stephen A. Smith had already sounded the alarm on First Take. “JJ Redick… you’re not gonna win many playoff games if you don’t rest your starters in the entire second half,” he warned bluntly.

Smith wasn’t buying the Lakers’ chances down 3–1 against Minnesota—and he was right. The comeback never came. The Wolves closed the door, and Redick’s rookie coaching mistakes were front and center in the fallout.

Redick ended with a 50-32 record in his first full season as a head coach. But maybe he was a victim of his own success—exposing his lack of experience to the world with impulsive decisions. However, he’s shown the maturity in owing up to the vulnerabilities, hoping for a better future.

“That’s where my mind goes today, immediately. It’s, ‘How can I be better?’ I’m going to take a lot of time, and thankfully, this offseason I have more time than last offseason to really self-evaluate, listen to my coaching staff, listen to players, listen to feedback from RP (Rob Pelinka) and figure out ways I can be better and ways I can help get us closer to that ultimate goal of hanging Banner 18,” said JJ Redick via the NBA.

But it might be farfetched to say that he’s lost the locker room. Rob Pelinka spoke of the Lakers coach being trusted by the FO. “Our level of confidence, my level of confidence couldn’t be higher. He’s a great partner to work with.” And the players themselves didn’t question anything this season—including the decision to opt against subs.

LeBron James: “None of us questioned JJ [Redick]”

James and Doncic ended up playing 46 minutes each- easily the most they’ve played in a game this season. And for a man that allegedly spends $1.5 million on his healthcare and diet, James should’ve been the first to call this out. But no. Not one person in the locker room opposed their HC, not even those who didn’t play the game.

“And by the way, none of us questioned JJ and the coaches staff for what happened. Obviously, Gabe and Vando, guys that have given us so many great minutes, they definitely felt the way. Because they’re competitors, we all feel like we could get in and make a moment happen. But it wasn’t a decision which JJ told us. It wasn’t a decision that was based on guys not being able to do the job. It was a decision based on the feeling of the game and the momentum of the game. And none of us looked at him or the coach staff anyway for the decision that he made,” said Bron on his podcast Mind the Game. 

You want a taste of the King’s mentality? He’d even go as far as to blame themselves for not getting his coach over the line. “And sh–, it was our fault that we didn’t come through,” said James. Will the next question be better? They believe so. But what’s for sure is that JJ Redick isn’t going anywhere.

So, was JJ too naive? Jay Williams certainly thinks so. After working with him, he knows the 200IQ basketball knowledge the Lakers boss possesses. This is nothing but a learning curve. The positives ahead are much better, and most importantly, the players trust him.