After the Lakers' 134–93 loss to the Miami Heat on Wednesday night, head coach JJ Redick seemed to be at a loss for words—until he wasn't.
"There has to be some ownership," he said after a long pause when asked what his message is to his team after a loss like that. "When a group is not performing well... you can splinter and it's easy to not want the ownership, particularly when it's embarrassing. I'm embarrassed, we're all embarrassed. It's not a game that I thought we had the right fight, the right professionalism."
JJ Redick asked about his message to the team. Gathers his thoughts for 10 seconds then goes for about 2 minutes.
— Wes Goldberg (@wcgoldberg) December 5, 2024
"I own this, but we need some accountability on the court as well."
"I'm not sensing that we're together." pic.twitter.com/D6hzcIrSH1
"There has to be some ownership on the court," Redick continued. "And I'll take all the ownership in the world. This is my team and I lead it. I'm embarrassed, but I can't physically get us organized. I can't physically be the basketball. I can't physically talk and call out reads and call out coverages. And by the way, I'm not blaming players. I own this... but we need some ownership on the court as well.
"There's not a sense from me that we're together right now."
The Lakers' loss, which was perfectly summed up by an embarrassing defensive possession in the third quarter, is their second in a row and their 10th of the 2024-25 season.
Having now lost six of their last eight, L.A. will look to buck up as they head to Atlanta on Friday for a 7:30 p.m. ET tipoff vs. the Hawks.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as JJ Redick Gives Brutally Honest Assessment of Lakers After 41-Point Loss to Heat.