The Los Angeles Lakers have adopted a strategy that’s rooted in a controversial past. On the positive side, the team seems to have addressed its most glaring weakness, which should temporarily ease external concerns.
However, Lakers head coach JJ Redick now faces a challenge: his recent decision risks repeating a mistake that led to Darvin Ham losing the locker room.
Redick made waves on Friday, Nov. 8, by opting for a starting lineup that notably excluded D’Angelo Russell. Russell, who had started in the Lakers’ first eight games, was benched after just 22 minutes in the previous game.
Starting Cam Reddish over Russell was a bold choice, especially given their contrasting levels of production, but so far, Redick’s decision appears to have paid off.
The Lakers triumphed over the Philadelphia 76ers, 116-106, snapping a tough stretch of four losses in five games. Russell, coming off the bench, provided much-needed scoring for a second unit that had struggled offensively.
With Russell delivering one of his best performances of the season and the Lakers improving to 5-4, Redick’s gamble seems to have worked, helping to alleviate the lingering memories of last season’s struggles.
Darvin Ham benched D’Angelo Russell and ultimately lost the Lakers’ locker room.
Faced with the same roster that Darvin Ham struggled to make work, JJ Redick has made a similar decision to bench D’Angelo Russell. In 2023-24, Ham benched Russell for seven games in an attempt to generate more offense from the Lakers’ struggling second unit. While it seemed like a reasonable move on the surface, the decision had deeper consequences.
The relationship between Ham and Russell had already been strained during the 2023 Western Conference Finals when Ham controversially chose to bench Russell in favor of Dennis Schröder. On paper, moving a high-scoring guard like Russell to the bench could make sense, given his ability to score in bursts, but the mistake Ham made was failing to communicate clearly with Russell about the benching. This lack of communication ultimately led to a breakdown in the locker room.
Fast forward to the 2024-25 season, and Redick faces the same challenge. The question is whether he’ll make the same mistake by not properly explaining the decision to bench Russell and clarifying his role moving forward. If Redick mishandles the situation, it could lead to the same fallout that Ham experienced—a loss of trust within the locker room.
Fortunately, Redick’s approach seems to be off to a good start. In his first game coming off the bench, Russell scored 18 points in 25 minutes, shooting 6-of-12 from the field and 2-of-4 from three, showing signs of overcoming his earlier inefficiency. The move provided a much-needed spark for the second unit and allowed the starters to find some relief.
While it’s still early in the season, Redick’s decision is a crucial one that could determine Russell’s future with the team and his relationship with the locker room. If Russell embraces the role, Redick may have just found a way to revitalize the Lakers’ second unit—and possibly their entire season.
