Three games into the 2024-25 NBA season, the Los Angeles Lakers looked like the best team in the world. With convincing wins over the Minnesota Timberwolves, Phoenix Suns and Sacramento Kings (all teams who were predicted to make the playoffs), the LakeShow was must-watch TV. Anthony Davis was playing at an MVP level, LeBron and Bronny James were the best marketing duo the NBA has ever seen and JJ Redick appeared to be comfortable in his first head coaching job.

Now sitting at 12-10, the Lakers are ninth in the West, behind their little brother rival Los Angeles Clippers. During their last eight games, the Lakers are 2-6, punctuated by a 134-93 blowout loss to the Miami Heat on Wednesday.

Some NBA fans have taken to blame Redick for the Lakers’ lack of success, but this is largely the same roster that Darvin Ham was unable to win with. The players understand that coaching doesn’t have much to do with their skid, and Davis was quick to defend his coach.

“The way we’re losing, we’re playing bad, blown out,” he said on Wednesday, as transcribed by The Athletic’s Jovan Buha. “I’m not playing well individually. It’s an accumulation of things and it’s frustrating.”

Redick, who is on the hot seat, despite his players coming to his defense, avoided placing all the blame on his squad, but he knows that there is only so much a coach can do.

“There’s not a sense from me that we’re together right now,” Redick outlined. “We’re in a tough stretch. And we’re all trying to find it.”

The elder James, who needs to play at an All-Star level in order for the Lakers to compete, simply does not look like himself. In the last eight games, Davis has averaged 20.6 points and 11.1 rebounds on inefficient shooting, but he has been solid on defense. James, on the other hand, is shooting 20.9% from 3-point range and averaging only 20.1 points during that span, although he went five games without making a shot from behind the arc.

James, like Davis, was quick to defend the coaching staff.

“It’s definitely on us, for sure,” he said. 

James and Redick hosted the “Mind the Game” podcast this offseason and rumors swirled that James single-handedly picked his head coach. If those rumors are true, Redick needs to get more out of his players, but the on-court result is ultimately up to the players getting minutes.

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