Kevin Garnett isn’t buying the idea that LeBron James and JJ Redick were all smiles behind the scenes during their time together with the Los Angeles Lakers.
On the latest episode of his KG Certified podcast, the Hall of Famer said he believed James had to move on from the Lakers in the summer, and he framed the situation around fit, usage, and ego. Garnett argued that James and Luka Doncic couldn’t really share the floor the way a team needs its stars to.
“I didn’t think him and Luka [Doncic] could play together,” Garnett said. “They both need the ball.
They both demand the ball. I’m talking about like 85 percent.
They want to make the play. They want to make the assist… Neither one of them could sit in the corner and wait on it.
James Harden, same way. I feel like those guys who dominate the ball, they want to make the decisions.
“I say in this sense where one couldn’t play Robin, real s***,” Garnett continued. “You got two Batman’s playing Batman.”
Former NBA guard Tony Allen pushed back a little, saying James going to the Philadelphia 76ers wouldn’t have been the right move either. Allen pointed out that James had mostly been sharing the ball with Doncic and Austin Reaves on the Lakers, while a 76ers pairing would have meant playing alongside Jaylen Brown, Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and VJ Edgecombe.
Allen sees a lot of Batmen in Philadelphia. Garnett does too, but he didn’t agree that James could step into a Robin role at this stage of his career.
From there, Garnett shifted to something even more pointed: he suggested there may be tension between James and Lakers head coach Redick.
“I don’t think that relationship with him and JJ Redick is the best,” Garnett said. “Real talk. It’s a bunch going on that we don’t know that’s behind the scenes that’s starting to trickle out.”
That’s where the speculation runs ahead of the evidence. Redick has already addressed his comments about how the Lakers’ pieces fit together, explaining that he was talking about the roster’s balance - not taking a shot at James.
“When I said the pieces fit, that’s more about having depth, having multiple ball handlers besides Luka and AR (in newcomers Colin Sexton and Quentin Grimes), having more shooting, more volume shooting, having an elite rim protector - the combination of all those pieces,” Redick said. “And it’s having great wing defenders.
“I really believe in our wing group,” Redick continued. “I believe in their defense.
I believe in their ability to make open 3s. (But) you don’t become a championship team (in late September).
You have to become one throughout the season.”
The public signs point the other way. Redick and James had been close for years before they launched Mind the Game together in March 2024. When Redick was hired as Lakers head coach in June 2024, some immediately wondered whether the move was made to keep James happy, especially since Redick had never coached before, even at the high school level.
Since then, Redick has answered plenty of questions on the court. He led the Lakers to back-to-back 50-win seasons and repeatedly backed James while praising him throughout that span.
Nobody outside the building can say exactly what was said behind closed doors. But based on what’s been made public, the idea that Redick and James were at odds doesn’t have much support right now. For the moment, Garnett’s claim remains just that - a claim.
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