Lakers Newcomer Praises JJ Redick for Team Chemistry Early in Season

The Los Angeles Lakers are off to a nice start. They are 7-2 and the second seed in the Western Conference. On top of that, they are doing this all while LeBron James has yet to play a single game, and Luka Doncic missed multiple games with various ailments. 

The Lakers are also navigating a new roster. They’ve brought in multiple new pieces, along with it being Luka’s first full season. How those pieces were going to gel was a big question mark hanging over the Lakers' season. DeAndre Ayton, the Lakers' new center, spoke about how the team is getting along. 

“I give my hats off to JJ [Redick]. JJ and the staff have just been pushing us regardless [of] who's out there. They've been doing it since I got here from training camp, from the months I've been in the summer in the gym. He's been the same guy. And he’s just been every day just drilling it in our heads, having that championship mentality, championship shape, championship communication. That's our motto, and that's what we've been going by. It’s super contagious. The guys who are out, they work their way up to come back and play, come in the lineup and it's like they never left.”

Coach JJ Redick is receiving high praise from the new Lakers’ center. Ayton hasn’t been in the most winning environments recently. He does know what it takes for a team to reach the NBA Finals, but the last few years he has been on teams that haven’t even sniffed the playoffs. 

If the Lakers pieces continue to gel, they could be a very dangerous team once they have LeBron back.