JJ Redick calls out multiple Lakers players after getting into intense verbal spat with star on sideline

JJ Redick unleashed some hard truths on the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday.

The Lakers suffered their third successive defeat after a 123-87 blowout loss against the reigning NBA champions Oklahoma City Thunder.

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Frustrations grew early in the contest, with Redick and Jarred Vanderbilt seen going back-and-forth with each other during a timeout, in which the forward was pulled out the game.

Vanderbilt ultimately checked in for just five minutes on the game in which he went 1-for-1 from the field, scoring three points, and produced two rebounds, one assist and a steal.

That is a huge drop-off in minutes from his 17.4 minutes per game through 61 games for the Purple and Gold in the 2025-26 regular season.

According to ESPN insider Dave McMenamin, the 27-year-old left Crypto.com Arena after the game without speaking to reporters.

When asked what led to the heated exchange with Vanderbilt, Redick – who has been known to blast his players before – played it down.

“Just a confluence of things. It’s nothing personal with him. Normal stuff from my end,” Redick said postgame. “I think for all of us, being under-manned, we’ve got to scrap and claw, all got to be on the same page, got to be great teammates, all got to play hard.

“I called a timeout to take him out of the game, he reacted, but again a normal interaction for me.”

But the Lakers head coach also called out a couple other of his players that he was left disappointed by in the game, including that of Rui Hachimura and Deandre Ayton.

“I called the early timeout because Rui didn’t do his job so I took him out of the game,” Redick added, referring to the first-quarter timeout he took just two minutes and 27 seconds into the game.

“We’ve got to find nine guys that are all-in on us fighting and willing to go out … [and do] whatever you got to do to go out and fight and be all in on the team. We’ll find the nine guys. It’s a great opportunity for us over the next three games to find those guys.”

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The Japanese forward would re-enter the game, finishing with a team-high 15 points on 7-for-10 shooting from the field.

“He’s [Ayton] had trouble catching the ball and I don’t know if that’s the passing or it’s him trying to get position,” Redick revealed of Ayton, who went 1-for-4 from the field for just three points and three rebounds. “He hasn’t been able to catch the ball.”

Lakers depleted at crucial moment

It’s been a tough week for the Purple and Gold, who lost both Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves for the remainder of the season in the same game – their last outing against the Thunder – another lopsided 139-96 loss – on April 2.

Slovenian superstar Doncic, who has fallen just one game short of meeting the league’s 65-game threshold to be considered for the end of season awards – though awaiting the outcome of an appeal – has spent the majority of the season playing at an MVP level.

Through 64 games, he has averaged a league-high 33.5 points per contest, along with 7.7 rebounds, 8.3 assists and 1.6 steals.

The Lakers were dealt a double blow with Reaves (23.3 PPG, 5.5 AST) suffering an oblique strain.

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The Lakers have since lost control of the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference, now down to fourth in the standings with a 50-29 record, the same record as that of Kevin Durant and the Houston Rockets.

With just three games remaining on the season, and the Pacific division title secured, Redick has shifted his focus onto taking things one game at a time.

“You obviously have to tackle the situation in front of you, that we have — a unique situation in front of us,” Redick said. “And we’ve got to prepare our team, our group that we’re going to have available to play in the playoffs series. …

“How we approach next week leading into Game 1, it’s finding who’s going to be able to play in the playoffs for us. … The seeding part probably went out the window after the OKC game.”

With games against the Golden State Warriors, Phoenix Suns and Utah Jazz to end their regular season, they will soon be preparing for a first-round playoff series that will likely be without two of their big 3, and leaving 41-year-old LeBron James to try and go it alone.

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