JJ Redick's attention to detail is second to none.
The Los Angeles Lakers coach, who made his debut pacing the sidelines in the Lakers' season-opening 110-103 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday night, watched as his club scored 72 points in the paint but shot just 5-of-30 from beyond the three-point line.
And Redick, a 41.5 percent shooter from beyond the arc in his 15-year NBA playing career, wanted to make sure that the Lakers controlled every variable possible surrounding their poor shooting performance. Even down to the wear and tear, or lack thereof, of the basketballs used in the season opener.
Redick: "I'm gonna send in a request for the league tomorrow that we can play with worn-in basketballs." pic.twitter.com/IQmPqMm3U0
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) October 23, 2024
"In terms of the process of generating threes ... Look the paint was open the second half," Redick said. "We took, I think, 19 threes in the first half. Which is right on pace to where we want to be for our season average in terms of a full game. And we got great looks."
"And there was even some threes there in the second half that I thought were wide open, we just couldn't knock them down. I'm going to send in a request for the league tomorrow that we can play with worn-in basketballs."
Redick went on to explain his reasoning for such an unusual request.
"I'm not sure why we're playing in real games ... I'm being dead serious ... I'm not sure why we're playing in real games with brand new basketballs. Anybody who's ever touched an NBA ball brand new, it's a different feel and touch than a worn-in basketball."
Redick wasn't aware of the state of the basketballs until he grabbed a ball on the court after a long rebound during a timeout.
"I didn't realize it until a timeout. There was a long rebound and I grabbed it. I was like, 'What?! Why are we playing with this ball? Give the guys the opportunity to pick a good basketball.' "
"You think I'm joking. I'm neurotic," Redick said with a laugh.
Redick became just the 17th NBA head coach to assume the role without prior coaching experience. But call it being neurotic or attention to detail. If this is any indication, Redick will clearly leave nothing to chance as the Lakers coach.
Los Angeles gets a day off before a back-to-back against the Phoenix Suns and Sacramento Kings on Friday and Saturday, games that may or may not be played with worn-in basketballs.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as JJ Redick Had Odd Request for NBA Over the Basketballs Used in Lakers’ Opener.
