Subscribe
Follow Us
LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Lakers returned home on Friday with a 116-106 win against the Philadelphia 76ers and with a major change in the starting lineup. Head coach JJ Redick opted to move Cam Reddish into the starting lineup with D’Angelo Russell moving to the bench. It’s a role that Cam Reddish has played before last season when Darvin Ham was still Lakers head coach.
Following the Lakers’ win against the Sixers, Redick praised Cam Reddish for making a major impact while only taking one shot, and called him a star in his role.
When Reddish was initially drafted by the Atlanta Hawks with the No. 10 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, he was a double digit scorer. He averaged 11.1 points across three seasons with the Hawks. But with the Lakers, they don’t necessarily need him to be a scorer.
They need him to be a scoring threat, by means of moving off ball and knocking down catch and shoot threes, but they aren’t going to put the ball in his hands and have him create. He’s more valuable to the Lakers as a defensive disruptor. It’s a role that Reddish hasn’t always been accustomed to.
“Every team is different, every coach is different. I just go out there and do what he tells me to do. My past life, I was out there doing what I wanted to do. That doesn’t necessarily work all the time,” Reddish said during a media availability session on Saturday. “Be a star in my role, do what I can to help the team win. Whether that’s one shot, five shots, ten shots, I just try to go out there and impact the game.”
Agains the Sixers, Reddish finished with three points, knocking down his only shot, a three-pointer, five rebounds, two assists, one steal and one blocked shot in 28 minutes.
Cam Reddish’s impact for the Lakers
Article Continues Below
Since coming into the NBA, Cam Reddish has kind of bounced around from the Hawks to the New York Knicks and the Portland Trail Blazers. The Lakers are his fourth team in six seasons.
According to Reddish, part of what contributed to him not quite being able to find a home in the league was his mindset. It can be tough for players to adjust to the NBA and playing a role when they’re used to having the ball in their hands in both high school and college.
“I was getting the ball all the time, I didn’t know anything else. I was forced to kind of learn and expand my game,” Reddish said. “It doesn’t happen overnight, but little by little I started getting better at it. I feel like all my years helped me to get to this point. . .everything I’ve been through, everything I’ve dealt with, has kind of guided me to this point.”
Reddish joined the Lakers as a free agent in the 2023 offseason. It was a two-year contract at the veteran’s minimum with a player option in the second year that he exercised. He started out the 2024-25 season dealing with ankle issues and was away for a brief period due to personal reasons.
But he’s back now, in the lineup and ready to help the Lakers this season.
