"I don’t care about that" - JJ Redick snaps at reporter for question about Lakers forward

LA Lakers head coach JJ Redick has his players' backs as he snapped back at a reporter for a question about Rui Hachimura. Experts have expressed that the Lakers need a player to step up to help LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Since that discussion has emerged, Hachimura's name has been brought up and many have expected him to take over that role.

Last season was the first time Hachimura played an entire 82-game campaign for the Lakers. He averaged 13.6 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.2 assists, identical to the numbers he put up during his final year with the Washington Wizards.

Even with his decent production, many want to see him become the third star for the Lakers. In a recent interview, Redick was asked by a reporter about what Hachimura means to the team after his 2024 Olympic stint with Japan.

The reporter asked the former NBA player if the Japanese star could take the next step for the team.

"What’s the next step?" Redick asked back.

The reporter told Redick that he should know what he was referring to. But the head coach responded with this:

"You tell me, you're creating the narrative. You tell me. What is the next step? I don't care about what the next step for Rui is, I care about how he impacts winning on our team."

The reporter referred to how Hachimura performed in the Olympics. In four games, the forward averaged 22 points, 6.5 rebounds, and an assist. Redick told him that his role with his national team is different from how he can help the Lakers.

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Redick then talked about using Hachimura on isolation and post-up plays this season. The head coach expects a high level of impact from the forward this season.

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JJ Redick clarifies his comments about D'Angelo Russell's 'career year'

JJ Redick shared on media day that he expects D'Angelo Russel to have a "career year." After his comments, many started to speculate that Russell might produce more offensively to increase his numbers this season.

However, Redick clarified that he doesn't mean for the point guard to take over offense this season.

"The thing that DLo and I talked about in terms of what a career year looks like, I think when people hear that they think of production, they think of counting stats," the coach said. "DLo and I are aligned that that’s not what that means... We think he has a chance to have a high level impact on winning, he’s done that at different points of his career."

Redick mentioned that he thinks Russell can play a big role as a leader for the Lakers.

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