If you watch the playoffs for fun and those crazy edge-of-your-seat moments, then you’re in for a treat. Right now, it’s the Golden State Warriors bringing that chaos and drama that will keep you glued for a full 2.5 hours. Just like last week, when the Lakers went head-to-head with the Timberwolves, it turned into an absolute rollercoaster. The Lakers started strong, looking like they had it in the bag early, but things flipped fast when Rudy Gobert got going. JJ Redick had a defensive game plan, sure, but it completely fell apart trying to contain the 34-year-old’s ridiculous attacks. And while most of the NBA world is cursing Redick for his uncanny and disturbing tactics, Robert Horry had a different take on that.
The Lakers looked solid all season under new head coach JJ Redick, surprising plenty of folks with their defensive grit. Even after losing Anthony Davis, they stayed afloat and somehow held the league’s No.1 defensive efficiency without a true starting center. But after a few weeks, those cracks started showing, especially their lack of size and depth in the frontcourt rotation. That problem hit hard during their first-round matchup against the Timberwolves, where it became painfully clear they weren’t title-ready.
And honestly, some of the blame falls on JJ Redick’s bizarre decisions that stirred even more chaos inside that locker room. Sure, the 40-year-old’s still comparatively new to coaching, but what about his experienced mentors, Nate McMillan and Scott Brooks, standing right beside him? That’s exactly what Robert Horry pointed out when asked about the Lakers’ struggles and those questionable tactical choices down the stretch.
On a recent Nightcap podcast episode, Robert Horry didn’t hold back while calling out JJ Redick’s playoff decision-making. Robert Horry said, “I look at JJ, I’m like in game, in game four I’m like Ant-Man out there cooking you and your best defender is on the freaking bench in Vando. Give him a chance.” He also pointed out how the team’s arguably best defender, Jarred Vanderbilt, sat on the bench while Anthony Edwards torched their lineup, dropping 43 points, 6 assists, and 9 rebounds.
Further, in Game 4, Redick chose to play the same five players- Luka Doncic, LeBron James, Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, and Dorian Finney-Smith- for the entirety of the second half. This contributed to significant fatigue among the starters, which led to a 32-19 fourth-quarter collapse.
However, Horry’s frustration wasn’t really with JJ, though; he gets that Redick’s a rookie coach still figuring things out on the fly. The real issue, Robert said, was with Nate McMillan and Scott Brooks, two seasoned coaches sitting silently through those questionable calls, “I’m not even mad at JJ. I’m mad at Nate and I’m mad at Scotty because you two head coaches are sat right over there and let him do this dumb stuff.”
But you know what, Robert Horry is not the only one who thinks JJ really did blunder. There are many out there who think that JJ’s decision on the biggest platform was not final ready. And NBA Analyst Brian Windhorst is one of them.
JJ Redick’s chalkboard chaos gets roasted as analyst calls out his courtside cluelessness
NBA analyst Brian Windhorst had zero patience for JJ Redick’s coaching decisions during the 2025 NBA Playoffs meltdown. He didn’t sugarcoat a thing when discussing Redick’s approach to managing the Lakers under pressure on the biggest stage.
The 47-year-old said, “JJ Redick coached very immaturely in this series. He was still seething and upset about the previous games, to the point where Reggie Miller said on the broadcast last night, he had to try to calm him down in the pregame meeting. Because JJ was acting, you know, frankly childishly.” That’s a brutal take, but honestly, plenty of fans felt the exact same way watching Redick completely lose his cool.
Windhorst even shared how JJ made things worse by storming off from reporters right before one of the biggest games. Right before Game 5, the head coach was asked whether he would lean on the assistant coaches for the player rotations after what went down in Game 4. However, such a line of questioning didn’t sit too well with Redick, and he fired back: “Are you saying that I’m because I’m inexperienced and that was an ‘inexperienced’ decision that I made? You think I don’t talk to my assistants about rotations every single timeout?”
Taken aback, the reporter responded, “No, I just think a lot of coaches lean on their assistants in those situations.” To this, the first-year head coach said, “As do I. Every single time. That’s a weird assumption.”
Shedding light on the same, Windhorst said, “He walked off and stormed off in the pregame session with reporters. Regardless of the question, it’s not the way to start… Not only did he double down on his, frankly, irrational decision not to substitute for an entire half in a playoff game. He doubled down on that and then in this game (Game 5), he played a guy who hadn’t played in three months.”
You read that right. JJ refused to play someone like Jaxson Hayes, a reliable defensive anchor all regular season long. Instead, he randomly started Maxi Kleber, part of the Luka Doncic trade, who hadn’t touched the hardwood in three months. To make matters worse, Redick also overworked his starting five, barely trusting his bench, and it drained the team’s energy.
It wasn’t just bad strategy; it was borderline reckless, and most NBA insiders couldn’t believe what they were watching. And honestly, that’s one of the major reasons why they dropped the series, but what do you think caused it?
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