Mandatory Credit: Matt Blewett-Imagn Images

“JJ Redick Coached Very Immaturely” NBA Analyst Rips JJ Redick for His Coaching Decisions in the First Round Series Against the Timberwolves

Mandatory Credit: Matt Blewett-Imagn Images

The Minnesota Timberwolves knocked off the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the 2025 NBA playoffs. The Lakers looked great throughout the regular season, under their head coach JJ Redick who is not only passionate but is also extremely hard working. Despite losing one of their best players in Anthony Davis, the Lakers still stayed afloat and were ranked No.1 in defensive efficiency, even without a starting caliber center. This had the NBA analysts and fans shocked, as everyone expected them to start losing because of their defense and the lack of size. Last season, the Golden State Warriors had a similar lineup, in terms of size and length, like the Lakers, and their lack of size heavily affected them, as they missed the playoffs.

However, after a couple of weeks, the Lakers’ weakness started to show and their lack of lengthy front court players started to show, and in the first round series against the Timberwolves, it was more evident than ever, that they were not ready to compete for a championship. The Lakers lost the series in 5 games, and the best reason why was their paint defense, and their paint scoring on the other end of the floor. The Timberwolves are one of the biggest teams, in terms of length, and that cause a lot of problems for the Lakers. The Lakers had LeBron James playing the 5, and did not workout well for them.

WOLVES TAKE DOWN LEBRON & LAKERS 🔥

ANOTHER ONE OFF ANT’S LIST ✍️❌ pic.twitter.com/iiSUJ56Nsa
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 1, 2025

Also Read: Kendrick Perkins Rips Into JJ Redick After Lakers’ First Round Playoff 2025 Exit

This begs the question; is JJ Redick to be blamed for the first round exit for the Lakers? Partly, yes, Redick was responsible, as we did not see any kind of adjustments, but then you also need to look at the Lakers’ roster and ask if they had enough to be a championship contending team. So with that said, let us look at what the NBA analyst criticized JJ Redick for.

NBA Analyst Brian Windhorst Criticized JJ Redick’s Coaching Decisions and Style in the First Round Series Against the Timberwolves

NBA Analyst Brian Windhorst was not a fan of JJ Redick’s coaching style and he believes that Redick was very immature in his coaching decisions in the 2025 NBA Playoffs. He said, “JJ Redick coached very immaturely in this series. He was still seething and upset about the previous games, to the point where Reggie Miller said on the broadcast last night, he had to try to calm him down in the pregame meeting. Because JJ was acting, you know, frankly childishly.”

“He walked off and stormed off in the pregame session with reporters. Regardless of the question, it’s not the way to start… Not only did he double down on his, frankly irrational decision not to substitute for an entire half in a playoff game, he doubled down on that and then in this game (Game 5), he played a guy who hadn’t played in three months.”

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What Did JJ Redick Do for All the Criticism?

JJ Redick refused to play somebody like Jaxon Hayes, who played a lot of the regular season games for the Lakers, and instead decided to start Maxi Kleber, who came in to the Lakers, in the Luka Doncic trade package. Kleber had not played in more than three months, and had not made his debut for the Lakers, until Game 5 of the first round.

Redick also refused to trust his role players, and made his starters play the majority of the minutes, which is one of the reasons why they lost the series. Their bench was outscored by the Timberwolves per game in the series, and their starters were outscored by 10.9 points, per 100 possessions, the worst of any lineup with at least 50 minutes together. They didn’t have the personnel, and their third best option, Austin Reaves, did not play well when the lights were the brightest.

The Lakers need to make a lot of changes in the offseason, and we expect Rob Pelinka, GM/President of the Lakers, to be extremely aggressive in the offseason, in order to get some new faces in the roster.

Also Read: LeBron James Had a Hilarious Response About Him Playing the Center and the Effect It Had on Him

JJ Redick

Los Angeles Lakers

NBA

NBA Playoffs 2025

Eric Divakaran

nba

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mma

I cover the National Football League and things cannot get better than that. I always dreamed to play football or basketball professionally since I’m built like a Running Back. But now that I can’t, since I’m technically in the “Unc” age, I thought why not pick a career in sports industry? So here I am, doing what I love, and hoping that the Commanders win the Super Bowl. I give love to players when it’s due, but can be critical about their performances at the same time. Enough about me, now let my articles do all the talking.