Gilbert Arenas Reacts To JJ Redick's Meeting With Luka And LeBron About Defense

Gilbert Arenas, a proud child of California, has made no secret of his support for the Los Angeles Lakers.  He has also not held back his disgust towards a recent meeting called by Lakers head coach JJ Redick.

"It's over, dawg," Arenas said on a recent episode of his "Gil's Arena" podcast. "Lakers championship, 2027."

Why has Agent Zero dismissed the possibility of his team winning the NBA title this season? Apparently, he wasn't happy with the fact that Redick had a meeting with LeBron James and Luka Doncic to discuss one particular flaw.

"This man had a meeting with a 41-year-old to say, step it [up] on defense," Arenas bemoaned. "Not the guys who actually need to play defense. Not Luka, AR, and them. You're saying, step it up, my 41-year-old."

Arenas, who used to square off against James in the playoffs during his playing career, called out a handful of other players on the Lakers roster who need to step up defensively. Austin Reaves, Jake LaRavia, and Deandre Ayton all got name-dropped by the three-time All-Star, who kept going back to the ridiculousness of asking James to contribute more on that end of the floor.

"That's like Dallas telling Dirk, 'We need you to play some D.' What?" a flabbergasted Arenas added.

Though the Lakers (18-7) are currently third in the Western Conference standings, their defense can certainly use a boost. The purple and gold squad is 20th in defensive rating, 23rd in limiting opponents' fastbreak points, and 24th in limiting opponents' field-goal percentage.

To Arenas' point, fixing these defensive shortcomings will go beyond asking James and Doncic to bring more to the table. The Lakers can get better outcomes on defense if they can harness a combination of toughness on the perimeter from guards like Reaves and steady rim protection from big men like Ayton and LaRavia.

The Lakers are certainly in contention to go deep in the playoffs, but ranking 20th in defensive rating will curtail their title aspirations. A better team effort in the new calendar year will give fans like Arenas hope that the Lakers can go deep in the postseason.