An emotional, vocal and more engaged LeBron James showed up in Memphis after taking responsibility for the Los Angeles Lakers‘ gut-wrenching loss to the Chicago Bulls on Thursday.
James finished with 25 points, his most since he returned from a two-week absence due to a left groin strain — and added eight assists, six rebounds, two steals and a block for the Lakers as they rebounded from the tough loss with a critical 134-127 win over the Grizzlies on Saturday to cap a 2-2 road trip.
But more than his impressive numbers, it was his leadership that galvanized the Lakers, according to coach JJ Redick, who revealed James yelled at one of their timeouts when they were down.
“He was an incredible leader tonight,” Redick said of James. “And it was early. It was throughout the game. When we got down, I challenged the group in a timeout and he was as vocal as he’s been since he got back from injury. And that galvanized the group. It was about communication. I think if he doesn’t say what he said in the timeout, we probably won’t win the game.”
Austin Reaves on LeBron Yelling Incident
Austin Reaves, who led all scorers with 31 points, has not seen James as vocal as he was in a long time.
“It’s the first time I’ve heard him yell in a while,” Redick told reporters. “It was pretty. It was refreshing, to be honest. I loved it. I don’t remember exactly what he said but it just shows how much he cares. His attention to detail is probably the standard. So if all of us can lock into that in every single possession, we can create something special.”
James was locked in from start to finish. He scored quick five points in the opening minutes of the game to put the Lakers ahead and then drew an offensive foul from the Grizzlies’ 7-foot-4 rookie Zach Edey.
“‘Bron said it before the game that this is [how] we’re going to play, this is a must-win,” Reaves told reporters.
And they treated it exactly like that.
Lakers Stars’ Pivotal Meeting
Before the critical game, Redick called his Big 3 to a pivotal meeting.
“We challenged all three of them when we get to their three-man actions to play with a little more force and a little more thrust and a little more creativity,” Redick told reporters after the game.
“Without getting into the X’s and O’s, if we put you in an environment, don’t do the same thing every time. If we put you in an environment, make everything live, exhaust every option like allow us to call a set where all three of you are involved and then just exhaust every option so we can keep going back to it,” Redick elaborated.
The Lakers star trio combined for 85 points and 25 assists and each of them made big plays down the stretch to pull off the win after facing adversity on the road.
Luka Dončić added 29 points with nine assists, eight rebounds and three steals.
“I think the meeting was just still trying to build that chemistry amongst the three of us to help the team be successful,” Reaves said.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post JJ Redick Addresses LeBron James’ Yelling at Lakers Timeout appeared first on Heavy Sports.