The new NBA season is around the corner, and questions about how JJ Redick and the Los Angeles Lakers are preparing for it are beginning to swirl. Speaking at a press conference, Los Angeles point guard D’Angelo Russell answered questions regarding life under the new head coach. According to him, he couldn’t be happier.
“Hell yeah. Yeah, it excites me,” he said about his feelings about the upcoming season. “I haven’t really had the opportunity to — and I’m not throwing shots at anybody, obviously, I know it kinda spins like that — but I’ve never really had the opportunity to build a relationship with a coach over a long period of time.”
He went on to praise Redick’s “high IQ”, highlighting his outside-the-box approach to the game.
“For me to see how JJ is trying to bring the play calls and just level of IQ into each practice and each film session, to see how he’s prioritizing that. I’ve always been a guy that wants to prioritize high IQ, high verbiage, high film sessions… like, let’s rise to that,” he added. “And he’s obviously doing that. It’s something to look forward to.”
Russell clarified that outside of three years with Chris Flinch at the Minnesota Timberwolves, he’s had an otherwise short-lived stint with each coach since then.
When a question was asked about specifics on the plays they practice, Russell said “(He) drew up a play, and I don’t even know if it worked. I think Jaxson did a great job of sniffing that play out, and I was on the golf course and I was thinking about it, and I sent him a voice note to thank him. Not trying to hype it up… but I saw him get into his bag there and it’s exciting for the players to notice that.”
The Los Angeles Lakers will open their preseason by playing against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday, October 4th. They will then play the Phoenix Suns on Sunday, October 6th.