Lakers legend Magic Johnson has not been afraid to voice his frustrations with head coach JJ Redick this postseason.
After LA fell down 3-1 to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the Western Conference Playoffs, the five-time NBA champion questioned some of the team’s coaching decisions — specifically regarding the minutes of superstar forward LeBron James.
“I [don’t] know if it smart to play LeBron and Luka the entire second half after only having one day of rest between Games 3 and 4,” Johnson said. “When we needed LeBron to take over in the fourth quarter he couldn’t – he scored 0 points in the fourth.”
I dont know if it smart to play LeBron and Luka the entire second half after only having one day of rest between Games 3 and 4. When we needed LeBron to take over in the fourth quarter he couldn’t – he scored 0 points in the fourth.
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) April 27, 2025
This is the second time this series Magic has called out Redick’s performance, except the Hall of Famer mentioned him by name following the franchise’s Game 1 loss.
“Tonight was one of the Lakers worst performances this season. They were flat, had no energy, and they played like it was a regular season game,” he claimed.
“Coach JJ Redick did a great job all season but he didn’t do a good job for Game 1,” Johnson continued. “The Lakers stood around on offense, played too much one-on-one basketball, and he didn’t make any necessary adjustments.”
Los Angeles now finds itself on the brink of elimination as they head back to the West Coast after being many people’s title picks — or at least a consensus pick to reach the conference finals.
© Denny Medley-Imagn Images
LeBron and his teams have come back from down 3-1 before. But it’s definitely going to take a Herculean effort from he, Luka and Austin Reaves and take out these T’Wolves after the hole they’ve dug themselves.
They’ll fight for their playoff lives Wednesday, April 30 at 10 PM ET on TNT, truTV and Max.
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