NBA Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett didn’t hold back when discussing how Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick handled LeBron James during last season’s playoff exit.
Garnett blasted Redick for playing James nearly the entire game in the Lakers’ first-round loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, a decision he believes should’ve cost the young coach his job.
“JJ Redick left him in the game the whole game. You bogus for doing that,” Garnett said on his KG Certified podcast.“The man didn’t get a rest. The man played [46]. You bogus. He should have been fired for that. You don’t leave a great like that in the [expletive] game.”
James, who was 40 years old at the time, logged 46 minutes in Game 4 and 40 minutes in Game 5 despite battling multiple injuries late in the season, including an MCL sprain.
The Lakers were eliminated in five games, and Garnett made it clear he thought the coaching decision was reckless.
“This feels like leverage,” Garnett added, suggesting LeBron’s early-season absence due to sciatica might be a message about workload management. “You don’t treat a legend like that.”
Redick later reflected on his first playoff experience as head coach and admitted he learned hard lessons from the series.
“My biggest regret from the Minnesota series was our preparation leading into the series,” Redick said at media day. “There was a lot of discussion with our coaching staff and, ultimately, I had to make the decision about what that week looks like in practice. We weren’t physically ready to play.”
Despite the criticism, the Lakers doubled down on Redick this offseason, signing him to a two-year extension through the 2030 season.
Meanwhile, LeBron continues to recover from sciatica and is expected to return by mid-November, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. Garnett, though, says the superstar still has plenty left in the tank.
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