Lakers coach JJ Redick wasn’t happy with one question ahead of L.A.’s do-or-die playoffs game against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
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Redick was fronting the media in his pre-game press conference as the Lakers prepared to face the Timberwolves in Game 4 of their Western Conference first-round series, which Minnesota leads 3-1.
The Lakers opened the postseason in disappointing fashion with a 117-95 blowout loss but rebounded with a 94-85 loss in Game 2, only to drop the next two games.
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The latest, which saw the Timberwolves win 116-113, saw Redick come under the spotlight for not making any substitutions in the last two quarters of the game, resulting in a visibly fatigued LeBron James and Luka Doncic.
It was the first time a coach had kept the same line-up on the floor for an entire half in the play-by-play era and one reporter on Thursday asked Redick whether he would “lean on” the rest of his coaching staff to try to get “other guys involved” in Game 5.
That question clearly did not sit well with Redick.
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“Are you saying that because I’m inexperienced?” he responded.
“That was an inexperienced decision that I made? You think I don’t talk to my assistants about substitutions every single timeout?”
The reporter tried to explain himself, adding: “I just think a lot of coaches lean on their assistants in those situations”, but Redick clearly didn’t have time for any more questions.
“As do I,” Redick said, cutting the journalist off.
“Every single time. That’s a weird assumption.”
