JJ Redick Reveals Brutal Tactics To Help Lakers Get In "Championship Shape"

During his playing days, JJ Redick had to do a lot of running. Now, he’s making the Los Angeles Lakers sprint many, many times during practice. 

To be clear, this isn’t a hostile act of healing past trauma. As a matter of fact, Redick has a clear objective in mind for his brutal conditioning regimen: to get the Lakers into legitimate “championship shape.”

In a piece published by ESPN on Friday, reporter Dave McMenamin outlined the set of drills that the Lakers had to do the previous day. This is what LeBron James, Luka Dončić, and the rest of the purple and gold squad had to do after going through a full practice session:

“Run six court lengths in 34 seconds, followed by a short break; then 10 court lengths in 60 seconds, followed by a short break; and finally, six more court lengths in 34 seconds.”

Speaking with reporters after this incredibly tough series of sprints, Redick admitted that he might not be getting a lot of affection from his players at the moment. “I don’t know if they like me right now,” the Lakers head coach said.

But Redick, a former sharpshooting guard who played 15 seasons in the NBA, hardly appears to be concerned with winning a popularity contest within the team. Ever since the Lakers exited the first round of the 2025 NBA playoffs, Redick has ordered all his players to achieve nothing less than supreme conditioning in order to improve their title chances this season.

If there’s one player who has displayed the outcomes that Redick is looking for, it’s Dončić. Showcasing a noticeably leaner frame, the Slovenian guard dominated the 2025 EuroBasket tournament, almost as if to silence naysayers who have deemed him to be out of shape.

And then, there’s James, who has a well-documented history of investing millions of dollars into maintaining his impeccable frame, even in the tail end of his career. With two key players who lead by example, the Lakers have no shortage of templates for success in the pursuit of “championship shape.”

In case a player or two doesn’t appear to be getting by with the program, Redick will be there to set them straight. Having firsthand experience running continuously just to get wide-open shots in an NBA game, the Lakers' head coach is having his entire team sprint toward championship-caliber improvement.