Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick has overcome many critics and doubters to guide the Los Angeles Lakers to their most successful season in a little while. They reached the 50-win mark and clinched the third seed in the Western Conference with a 140-109 win over the Houston Rockets on Friday, and those were two milestones no one thought they could reach when the season started.
Redick kept them in one piece during multiple slumps, navigated at least one change in the team's identity and has gotten LeBron James to take somewhat of a backseat to Luka Doncic. Now, the team seems to have a real shot at winning this season's NBA championship.
For now, it will have one final regular-season game on Sunday versus the Portland Trail Blazers before it hosts its first playoff series since 2012. Following Friday's win, Redick reflected on what has transpired over the last several months and gave many people around him credit.
"I’m just incredibly proud of our team," Redick said. "It’s an accomplishment to win 50 games in the regular season in any year. I think particularly this year, in this Western Conference, it is, and it’s a credit to our players. Each one at different points in time has contributed to winning. They’ve all participated in a winning culture. Our coaching staff, our performance staff, everybody down the line, it’s a great group to be a part of. We want to go win one more game, and we’ll figure out Sunday who we play in the first round."
Many thought the Lakers were crazy to hire Redick, a man who had no NBA or NCAA coaching experience, last June, let alone believe he had the potential to become a Pat Riley-like coach and leader. But now, he is presiding over a team that just may be in the process of becoming something truly special.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: JJ Redick reflects on winning 50th game and clinching third seed
