Lakers Hit a Wall - and JJ Redick Isn’t Sugarcoating It
LOS ANGELES - The mood leaving Crypto.com Arena on Christmas was unmistakable. Fans filed out early, not just to beat traffic, but to beat the feeling of watching another blowout loss.
For the third straight game, the Lakers didn’t just lose - they got run off the floor. And head coach JJ Redick didn’t hold back after the final buzzer.
“We don’t care enough right now,” Redick said, his frustration boiling over. “That’s the part that bothers you a lot.
We don’t care enough to do the things that are necessary. We don’t care enough to be professional.”
He said it twice for emphasis - and then kept going.
“It’s a matter of making the choice, and far too often we don’t have guys who want to make that choice,” Redick added. “And it’s pretty consistent who those guys are.
Saturday’s practice is going to be uncomfortable. The meeting is going to be uncomfortable.
I’m not doing another 53 games like this.”
This wasn’t just a coach venting after a loss. This was a red-alert moment for a team that came into the season thinking it had cracked the code for a title run. But after a 119-96 loss to the Houston Rockets - capping a brutal six-day stretch that included lopsided defeats to the Clippers and Suns - the Lakers are being forced to face a sobering reality.
This version of the team isn’t built for a deep playoff run.
They opened the season 15-4, and for a while, the record masked the cracks. But as Stan Van Gundy put it, “Numbers eventually win every argument.”
Van Gundy, a former NBA head coach and now an analyst, didn’t mince words.
“I don’t think they’re a true contender, in my opinion,” he said. “Their numbers said they were mediocre.
Their record said they were really good. I just don’t think in today’s game they have enough.”
The issues? Depth.
Speed. Defensive versatility.
And when their three stars - Luka Dončić, LeBron James, and Austin Reaves - are on the floor together, those weaknesses only become more glaring.
“Defensively, they even get weaker when their three best players play together,” Van Gundy said.
That trio started alongside Deandre Ayton and Rui Hachimura against Houston. The result?
A -14 mark in just over eight first-half minutes, with a defensive rating of 144.4. That’s not just bad - that’s bottom-of-the-league bad.
Coming into the game, that starting five had already been posting a -9 net rating on the season, with a 122 defensive rating. In other words, this isn’t a one-off.
“When they had the mix of two of those guys, they were better,” Van Gundy noted. “Now JJ will obviously rotate those guys, but they’re going to come down the stretch in games, and those three guys are all going to be out there and Ayton will be out there - and now you can’t get perimeter defenders out there with them. I think it’s a struggle and JJ and his staff have a huge challenge in front of them.”
This isn’t a new conversation. Rich Paul, LeBron’s agent, said it weeks ago on his podcast - the Lakers aren’t contenders.
At the time, it raised eyebrows. Now, it feels like confirmation.
The Lakers sit at 19-10, technically fifth in the West, but just barely ahead of the same Rockets and Suns teams that just dismantled them. The numbers are catching up, and the eye test isn’t doing them any favors either.
The core issue? The Lakers can’t keep up with younger, faster teams - and in today’s NBA, that’s the kiss of death. You can’t give up 120 points a night and expect to hang banners in June.
This isn’t about needing another superstar. Dončić is delivering like one.
LeBron still has All-NBA moments. Reaves, if healthy, is playing at an All-Star level.
The problem isn’t at the top - it’s what’s around them. No speed.
No depth. No defensive identity.
And without those, the star power is just window dressing.
“I can’t picture them on OKC’s level,” Van Gundy said. “Denver, San Antonio, Houston are probably the next three teams, and I don’t see the Lakers at that level.”
That’s not hyperbole - it’s the reality the Lakers are living in.
The trade deadline is February 5. That’s 41 days from the night the Rockets exposed everything wrong with this team.
There’s still time for Rob Pelinka to make moves. There’s still time to inject some life into the roster.
But time is all they’ve got - and it’s running out.
Because this isn’t just about X’s and O’s. It’s not about rotations or lineups or even just roster construction.
It’s about effort. It’s about urgency.
It’s about caring.
And right now, according to their head coach, the Lakers don’t.
That’s the problem. And unless that changes, nothing else will.