JJ Redick isn’t worried about the potential threat of winning the NBA Cup

After another disappointing postseason loss, the Los Angeles Lakers felt a coaching change was necessary this past offseason.

They ended up bringing in JJ Redick, the first head coach to take the risk due to a potential learning curve. In a highly competitive Western Conference, there is little, if any, time for Redick to figure things out.

A key setback for the Lakers last season was their victory in the in-season tournament. From December to early January, LA experienced two separate losing streaks of four games each.

Considering the purple and gold won the first NBA Cup and reaped no benefits other than some extra money, perhaps the better course of action this season would be to not go all out to win. However, Redick isn’t worried about the potential consequences of winning the NBA Cup because he wants to win every game he coaches.

“I’m not worried about the second part,” Redick said. “I want our team to win every single game, including the preseason games. That’s why, as a fan, I thought the in-season tournament last year was great. We scheduled some Friday night games for ESPN, I was here for the semifinals and did some work in the studio the next day. That’s why I really appreciated it as a fan. I think the feedback from players and teams has been pretty good. They changed the schedule a bit this year to allow a little more time between games. So I think that could potentially help ensure that the teams that make it play all the way to the championship game.”

While LA struggled after winning the NBA Cup, the team upped its game when the trophy was on the line, thanks in part to Anthony Davis and LeBron James, a duo built for high-stakes environments became.

Expect that to happen again this year, but Redick needs to avoid long losing seasons if the Lakers want to avoid the play-in tournament. With teams now familiar with the in-season tournament schedule, only time will tell if LA is prepared for what lies ahead in their second attempt.

JJ Redick: The Lakers are “ready” for the season opener despite a poor preseason performance against the Warriors

With the Lakers’ regular season starting in less than a week, head coach JJ Redick needs to put the final two preseason games to good use. Despite a poor shooting performance on Tuesday, Redick believes his team is “ready” for its season opener against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

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