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Los Angeles Lakers Coach JJ Reddick believes the selection criteria should be changed to allow it LeBron James to earn a spot on the All-NBA team for this season.
James sat outside A 136-108 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday night Due to arthritis in left leg. It was the 18th game he was forced to miss this season, making it impossible for him to reach the now 65-game threshold to be eligible for the league’s annual awards.
The 41-year-old has been named to the All-NBA team for a record 21 seasons but that streak is now coming to an end.
However, Redick, who was part of the voting panel in his previous role as a member of the media, suggested that the 65-game rule brought in ahead of the 2023/24 season should be used as “guidance”.
He said: “I think it’s good for voters to have some kind of guidance. I know the first year I voted, there were a bunch of people who were in the 54-to-56-game range.”
It stinks for guys who have good years – Johnson
Redick is unlikely to get his wish, though even Spurs coach Mitch Johnson believes it’s tough for players who have had good years despite injury problems.
“I think the intent behind the rule makes sense,” Johnson said. “Try to encourage and motivate players to play. Just playing 82-plus regular-season games in this league is tough and there’s a lot of bumps and bruises and four-letter things that people play through. And I think that’s a skill and it’s a demand that I understand these guys mentally, physically and dynamically.
“If 65 games is the right number that people should be ineligible for certain awards (if they don’t reach it), the details, I honestly haven’t given much thought to. I think it obviously stinks for people who have really good years.”
LeBron and the Lakers battle to make the playoffs
Of greater concern to Redick, James and the Lakers is the loss to the Spurs and what damage it could do to their playoff hopes.
LA sits fifth in the Western Conference and has been wracked by injuries with Luka Doncic (hamstring), Austin Reaves (calf), Marcus Smart (ankle) and DeAndre Ayton (knee) all missing the game against the Spurs.
That gave the bench players a chance to impress but they failed the audition as Spurs’ Victor Vembanyama scored 40 points in just 26 minutes.
Redick was particularly upset with his team’s defensive efforts.
He said: “You have some of these games, and I don’t know the confidence level of the guys that were there, that some of these games you’re thinking to yourself, ‘Oh I’m going to get more shots tonight.’ And you just come out defensive with zero intent.
“Wambi blitzed us and we didn’t execute what we were trying to do. And then when he didn’t have the ball and they were running, it was like one-on-one, no help defense.
“I could have shown 18 clips of us not running our defense. We couldn’t do much other than suck on defense.”
The Vembanyama blitz proves too much for the Lakers’ second string
It was a good night for that 7ft 4in VembanyamaYet he watched the final quarter from the bench and won the game.
He said: “I was also pushing to go back, but I mean, they did the right thing by putting me on the bench. We have to think long term. But yeah, in these kinds of games you have to be greedy. I mean, in every game you have to have this greed to want more every time, because you always know who’s on the court, it doesn’t matter who’s stopping you from going out. So you have to be greedy.”
