With the Los Angeles Lakers trailing the Minnesota Timberwolves heading into Game 2 of the First Round of the NBA Playoffs, head coach J.J. Redick knew he had to light a fire under the team.
After a strong start, the Lakers took their foot off the gas pedal and played lackadaisical in the third quarter. That didn’t sit well with Redick, who furiously called timeout with 7:40 left in the third quarter to ream out the team.
“Time out! What the f–k is going on?! Time out! Jesus f—ing Christ! What the f–k are you guys doing?!” Redick shouted as he walked past Austin Rivers and Dorian Finney-Smith and onto the court before huddling with the team to draw the next play.
After fuming, he walked toward the bench, but not before an assistant coach tried, and failed, to reel him in. He immediately went over to Rivers and Finney-Smith before the TNT feed cut to commercial break.
JJ REDDICK CURSING AT THE LAKERS LOL #austinreaves #lakers #knicks #lakers #timberwolves #basketball #fyp #playoffs #nbahighlights #nazreid #rui #JJREDDICK #ANTHONYEDWARDS pic.twitter.com/Rgq1dyWC9Z
— NBA Library (@NbaLibrary) April 23, 2025
Whatever the case, the tirade worked. The Lakers managed to tie the best-of-seven series, 1-1, with a much-needed 94-85 win to split the home series before the series heads to Minnesota.
After the game, Redick addressed his tirade.
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“[That’s] not frustration, but just coaching,” he told reporters after the game. “As a coach, you can see it coming, and the other side of that is on the horizon and is building, and I just wanted to make sure everybody was on the same page. I’ve done that in a game a handful of times, in six preseason games, 82 regular-season games … I’ve done it a handful of times. It’s not something that I’d want to do. It’s something I’m more than comfortable doing. But I think tonight it was just more about getting that urgency button switched back on.”