The Los Angeles Lakers seem to be righting the ship after a rough end to the calendar year of 2025. They've now won three consecutive games, including a 111-103 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday, to keep their spot at third place in the Western Conference standings. Head coach JJ Redick seems to be losing his cool lately, but winning cures all — especially when LeBron James and Luka Doncic have been producing at star levels.
In particular, James stood out on Tuesday night as the brightest star for the Lakers. He was the focal point for LA when they regained the lead over the Pelicans in the fourth, and he finished with 30 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists on the night on efficient shooting splits. This sort of performance makes it so hard to forget that James is already 41 years of age. This is the point of most basketball players' lives where they're already retired or plying their trade in a worse league.
Redick then used a baseball analogy to describe James' agelessness, as well as their dynamic on the court as coach and player.
“He's Greg Maddux at the end of his career. Every night he doesn't have his best stuff but he has enough to win. I'm his catcher. I got to figure out how to call the pitches. Sometimes he tells me to F off and he calls his own pitch, which is fine too,” Redick said with a smile on his face, via @ohnohedidnt24 on X (formerly Twitter).
JJ on LeBron:
"Every night he doesn't have his best stuff but he has enough to win. Sometimes he tells me to F off and he calls his own pitch which is fine too" 😂 pic.twitter.com/Hg7ovilSBP
— Oh No He Didn't (@ohnohedidnt24) January 7, 2026
JJ Redick's Lakers will be up against it on second night of a back-to-back
The Lakers didn't exactly do well the last time they faced the San Antonio Spurs, which they'll be doing at 9:30 PM E.T. on Wednesday night. So for them to do so while on the second night of a back-to-back has to be a daunting prospect for a Lakers side that could be without James due to load management reasons.
Redick will have his work cut out for him, especially in organizing the Lakers' defense against a spry and young Spurs squad.
