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[Saba Sports News] JJ Redick abruptly ended his pregame press conference on Wednesday after taking offense to a question about his coaching decisions.
The Los Angeles Lakers head coach was speaking with reporters ahead of Game 5 of the team’s first-round playoff series against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Crypto.com Arena. During the session, a reporter asked if Redick would rely more on his assistant coaches for fourth-quarter substitutions—prompting an immediate and heated reaction.
“Are you saying that because I’m inexperienced? That was an inexperienced decision that I made?” Redick shot back.
“You think I don’t talk to my assistants about substitutions every single timeout?”
Visibly frustrated, Redick ended the press conference on the spot, saying, “That’s a weird assumption” as he set down the microphone and walked out.
The question was tied to Redick’s much-criticized decision in Game 4, where he played a single five-man unit—Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, LeBron James, Rui Hachimura, and Dorian Finney-Smith—for the entire second half without making a single substitution.
That move backfired, as the exhausted group gave up a double-digit lead and ultimately lost 116-113, putting the Lakers down 3-1 in the series.
Redick, in his first season as an NBA head coach, has veteran assistants like Scott Brooks and Nate McMillan on staff. But he clearly bristled at the implication that he had ignored their input or mismanaged the situation—especially in the wake of a crushing loss.