Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick called out his players in emphatic fashion Thursday after a lopsided loss to the Houston Rockets.
“We don’t care enough right now,” the second-year coach told reporters, per The Sporting Tribune’s Arash Markazi. “That’s the part that bothers me a lot. We don’t care enough to do the things that are necessary, we don’t care enough to be a professional.”
The Lakers suffered their third consecutive defeat and their sixth in a 10-game stretch with the 119-96 Christmas Day beatdown from the Rockets.
Los Angeles won 15 of its first 19 games of the season but is coming out of Christmas with a 19-9 record. Defense has let the the Lakers down recently, with the team allowing 122.8 points per game over its last six losses.
“Guys will say they want to win. The care factor to me is like, ‘Do I care enough to actually do what I’m supposed to do and just do it consistently?’” Redick said. “And that’s really what the championship habits are. And that’s what we don’t have right now.”
Redick’s frustrations bubbled before Christmas, with the former sharpshooter dropping this line after Tuesday’s loss to the Phoenix Suns:
The 41-year-old said coming out of the Rockets loss that he’s prepared to ruffle some feathers at Saturday’s practice.
“It goes back to what I said the other night: it’s a matter of making the choice, and too often we have guys that don’t want to make that choice. And it’s pretty consistent who those guys are. … The meeting is going to be uncomfortable. I’m not doing another 53 games of this.”
The Lakers are back in action Sunday against the Sacramento Kings. It’s unclear if they’ll have guard Austin Reaves, who aggravated his ailing calf against the Rockets and sat out the second half.
You can view the original article HERE.
