JJ Redick boldly admitted the Los Angeles Lakers are still trying to figure out their team identity (DNA), noting the challenges of lineup changes and building consistency.
Although the Los Angeles Lakers ended a season-worst three-game losing streak with a victory over the Sacramento Kings on Sunday, they dropped four of their final five games to close out the calendar year, including a 128-106 loss to the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday.
The Lakers are now 20-11 on the season, but coach JJ Redick admitted he still isn't sure what his team's identity is.
"Still trying to figure that out," Redick said in the post-game conference. "And I know that's maybe a cop-out, and probably is, but I do know that we have had a lot of stops and starts, and we've tried to, not just the staff, I'm saying our team, the players, staff, everybody, we've really tried to play the right way every night and have the right intent.
"The flow of lineups and rotations and all that has been challenging for everybody, not just the coaches," he added. "It's just a challenge for the players, and building an identity, I think, is difficult. If you look at our team last year, this team is different, and our identity will eventually be different, but we didn't get that identity till late January, it felt like. And then we had to shift again.
Credit AP - Scanpix
"So, I don't think it's unnatural," Redick went on to say. "I remember a meeting I had with Phil [Jackson] last year, pretty early in the season, and he said, 'I always felt like I knew who my team was by Thanksgiving.' I think that's hard to figure out with this team right now. So, yeah."
When asked about Redick's comments on the team's "unknown DNA," Luka Doncic was more optimistic.
"Well, we're 20-11, which isn't too bad," Doncic said in Spanish. "We're two or three games out of second place. Even though it might seem terrible, it's not that bad. But we definitely have to improve."
The Lakers will start the new year of 2026 with two games against the Memphis Grizzlies.
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