Subscribe
Follow Us
The Los Angeles Lakers were obliterated by the Miami Heat on Wednesday night, losing by a final score of 134-93. LA has now dropped three of their past four games overall, and they hold a 12-10 record. So, are the Lakers in trouble?
There is plenty of time for the Lakers to bounce back, as the NBA season is still in December. With that being said, LeBron James and Anthony Davis have not played their best basketball as of late. It has become clear that when AD and LeBron struggle, the Lakers have trouble finding consistency.
Kendrick Perkins has questions for Lakers head coach JJ Redick, who is in his first season as an NBA head coach. Perkins even compared Redick to Steve Nash's difficulties in Brooklyn with the Nets.
“The Lakers QUIT on JJ last night, and it’s starting to remind me of Steve Nash in Brooklyn,” Perkins wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Nash took over a Nets team with high expectations in 2020. However, Brooklyn failed to play up to their championship aspirations. After a challenging start to the 2022-23 campaign, the Nets ultimately went in a different direction.
The situation is different with Redick, however, as LA's expectations are not as high. After all, Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden were among the superstars who played for the Nets while Nash was the head coach. Meanwhile, the Lakers' current superstars are Anthony Davis and LeBron James, but LeBron is close to turning 40 years old.
Kendrick Perkins has questions for Lakers' JJ Redick
Perkins also further addressed his concerns about Redick and the Lakers while speaking on ESPN, via NBA on ESPN.
“What we need to focus on is LeBron James, he's backing up JJ Redick,” Perkins said. “This is his hire… They didn't mind the game yesterday in South Beach, did they? That was the name of their podcast… Here's the thing: this is about the fourth or fifth time in this short season that we've heard JJ go to the podium and say, ‘My team wasn't competing.' Well, why the h*ll is your team not competing? Do you not have the ears of that locker room?
“Because if you had the ears of the locker room, then your team would go out there, they are not necessarily going to shoot the ball and play well offensively every night, but d*mmit, they're gonna compete! They're not competing. Why are they not competing? Why are these guys not listening to you? That's the real question.”
Are the Lakers' recent struggles Redick's fault? One could make that argument, but it's difficult to place all of the blame on Redick this early in the season. At 12-10, hope is certainly not lost. In fact, some may even argue that Redick has exceeded expectations up to this point.
JJ Redick knew what he was signing up for. He surely knew that any Lakers' losing streak was going to spark comments similar to the ones Perkins made on Thursday. Redick needs to ignore the outside noise and place his focus on the Lakers.
The Lakers will attempt to bounce back on Friday night against the Hawks in Atlanta.
