The Los Angeles Lakers hired JJ Redick to modernize the offense and get buy-in on the defensive end of the floor. They also hoped he’d be able to relate to the new generation of players as an individual who isn’t all that far removed from his own playing career.
Redick has not only succeeded in those areas during his first two seasons at the helm, but has successfully changed the culture in Los Angeles.
Los Angeles has undergone drastic changes over the past year, with none being bigger than swapping franchise player Anthony Davis for the new face of the Lakers: Luka Doncic. It’s also brought in veterans who epitomize the defensive and selfless mentalities that Redick hoped to instill.
The results have been instantly intriguing, with Los Angeles winning 50 games in 2024-25 and getting out to a 12-4 start to the 2025-26 season. Moreover, a team with a surplus of moving pieces has found ways to win despite ranking among the worst shooting teams in the NBA.
According to Dan Woike of The Athletic, Lakers star Austin Reaves explained that the Lakers have overcome their dreadful three-point shooting by committing to doing whatever it takes to win.
“I think it’s just chemistry. Care factor’s high,” Reaves said. “You wanna go out there and do whatever you can do to help one another succeed. And I think that that goes a long way. There’s no selfishness; everybody wants to see everybody succeed.”
That determination to play through slumps and find ways to win by excelling in other areas is a massive change from what fans unfortunately grew accustomed to seeing in previous seasons.
Austin Reaves on Lakers: “Everybody wants to see everybody succeed”
The Lakers have consistently run into the same wall after winning the 2020 NBA championship. A trip to the 2023 Western Conference Finals is an achievement to celebrate, but they’ve lost in the first round or missed the playoffs in every one of the other four completed seasons.
One of the primary reasons Los Angeles kept bowing out was a combination of defensive inconsistency and a degree of trepidation to make plays when shots weren’t falling.
That hasn’t been the case early in 2025-26, as the Lakers are proving far more resourceful and resilient even in a regular season setting. It’s an encouraging improvement over what the team showed in 2024-25, when it was a painfully streaky unit that balanced runs of wins and losses in a manner that proved unsustainable.
With new additions such as Deandre Ayton, Jake LaRavia, and Marcus Smart plugging the holes that agonizingly existed in 2024-25, however, the stars have been positioned to prevent the streaky tendencies from taking hold again.
Los Angeles has yet to lose consecutive games in 2025-26, which is reason enough to be intrigued. Beyond the wins and losses, it’s playing with relentless energy. It currently ranks No. 8 in loose balls recovered and No. 12 in deflections and screen assists.
By comparison, it finished the 2024-25 season at No. 18 in screen assists, No. 24 in deflections, and No. 25 in loose balls recovered.
Each of those improvements reveal core elements of how the Lakers are more determined to make the hustle plays in 2025-26. Perhaps the ball could move more and the ISO-heavy tactics could be pulled back a bit, but Redick is planting seeds that could sprout a top-tier defense.
There’s still work to be done in Los Angeles, but Redick has the purple and gold playing with far more energy and intensity on defense thanks to the promised culture change that was desperately needed and long overdue.
