The Lakers fans all around the world were stunned after the Timberwolves eliminated them from the Playoffs in five games of the first round. After the Lakers' final loss in game 5, Brian Windhorst, the senior NBA reporter for ESPN, summed up why they lost this series. In that process, he listed down three key reasons why the Lakers did not fare well in the series. The key focus of his summary became the criticism of JJ Redick's coaching strategies.
Magic Johnson, the Lakers legend, took to social media to claim that he agrees with what Windhorst said on ESPN's Get Up segment. "Jay Williams, one of the greatest college point guards that’s ever played and now an excellent entrepreneur, made some really good points this morning. I also thought Brian Windhorst did an excellent job breaking down the state of the Lakers – not only what happened in the Playoffs but what the Lakers have a chance to do in the future," he wrote on X.
What Did Brian Windhorst And Jay Williams Say About The Lakers?
Brian Windhorst and Jay Williams appeared alongside Michael Wilbon, Damien Woody, and host Mike Greenberg on ESPN's Get Up segment. The key topic of their discussion was what the Lakers did wrong and how they can fix it. In his X post, Johnson seemed to agree with everything Williams and Windhorst said; however, the key focus of what they said was criticizing JJ Redick amid other persistent issues that have plagued the Lakers.
Brian Windhorst first summarized the Lakers' issues and brought it down to three key issues. “One, as Mr Wilbon said, it's a flawed roster. When they decided to rescind the Mark Williams trade back in February, and they weren't going to have a starting center, they knew they were going to be in trouble. ---Secondly, and I don't mean this in a personal way, 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.”
Windhorst further went on to criticize JJ Redick for not only doubling down on his decision to make no substitutions in the second half of Game 4, but also for playing Maxi Kleber in the most crucial moments of the game. Game 5 of the series was Kleber's Lakers debut. He had been sitting out while recovering from his broken right foot and played for the first time in three months. Keeping him in the final five minutes of a game that could end the Lakers' season seemed irrational to Windhorst.
“And then the third thing is the Lakers didn't get their best from their star players. Austin Reeves had a terrible series. Obviously, the Wolves had something to do with that. He just didn't deliver. He was great towards down the stretch of the season, he didn't deliver period. Luca Doncic was sick in game three, and he hurt his back in game five. That's unfortunate; he obviously needs to get in better condition, but I will point out that he was on a roster that went to the finals last year in basically the same condition. And then LeBron James, after playing really well in the middle of this series, looked tired and old last night. He looked like a 40-year-old, especially down the stretch of this series, and that's just the reality. For the Lakers to do anything, they needed all three of those guys to be great; none of them were great”, Windhorst further added.
After Windhorst explained his analysis of the game, Jay Williams chimed in with his opinion. “Here's my headline: Ant was 0 for 11 from the three-point line. He shot 15% from deep, and they still sent LeBron James home in five. This wasn't about shotmaking, this was about identity. This Minnesota Timberwolves team they out-toughed, they out rebound, and they out-schemed the Lakers.”, he said initially.
“Everything that Windhorst said, to part of it I kind of agree with, but I also disagree with it. You know how insulting that is, and I agree that JJ Redick could have handled the question differently. It's so insulting to sit up there while you're on the podium and say to somebody, "Well, are you going to lean upon your staff?" Like we talked about this the other day, Greeny, when you have Nate McMillan on your staff, you have Scott Brooks on your staff. He's leaning on his staff every single timeout,” Williams further concluded.
What Windhorst Said About The Lakers' Future
Towards the end of the segment, Brian Windhorst explained what the Lakers need to do in the future. He seemed rather optimistic for a person who just criticized the head coach of the team.
“Just because the Lakers are flawed does not mean it's a catastrophic situation. They will need to make some tweaks, they have some things. They have tradable contracts, they have draft picks, they have pick swaps. Potentially with what LeBron does with his contract, they might have some free agency money. They need to fix it, and so that's what they're going to do. Luka has his limitations and he has incredible upside. That was true two years ago, it was true last year when they were in the finals, it's true now. But this roster was what it is. So rage on about this team, all of it is fair, but realize there's a process here and the process has worked before,” said Windhorst in his concluding remarks.
Now, while Windhorst and Williams said a lot of things about the Lakers, Magic Johnson seemed to agree with everything they said about the situation in LA. Objective criticism does not mean personal hostility. Johnson has nothing against JJ Redick personally, but he agrees that Redick will need to change his coaching style, among other problems, for the front office. Coming from a legend like Johnson, Redick should seriously consider fixing his strategies if he hopes to achieve any glory with the Lakers next season.
