JJ Redick praises Thunder as greatest
- JJ Redick set the tone before Lakers-Thunder by calling Oklahoma City “one of the greatest teams ever,” framing Round 2 as a survival test. - The stat behind it was stark: Redick said OKC’s back-to-back elite net ratings put this Thunder team next to the 1996 Bulls. - That matters because the Lakers enter short-handed, while OKC just swept Phoenix and crushed Los Angeles in the regular season.
The story here is not really flattery. It is framing. Before the Lakers opened their Western Conference semifinal against Oklahoma City, JJ Redick basically told everyone to stop pretending this was a normal second-round matchup. He called the Thunder “one of the greatest teams ever in NBA history,” and he did it in a way that sounded less like hype and more like a warning. The Lakers are trying to beat the defending champs while still managing injuries, missing offense, and a matchup that already looked brutal in the regular season. (heavy.com) ### Why did Redick go that big? Because he had a number to point to. Redick said the Lakers saw a stat in a team meeting showing that teams with back-to-back seasons at this level of net rating are basically historic-company teams — the mid-90s Bulls and the mid-2010s Warriors tier. That is the point of the quote. He wa(heavy.com) dominance is in that neighborhood. (heavy.com) ### What makes this Thunder team so scary? Start with the obvious — they are the No. 1 seed and the defending champion. Then add the way they handled Phoenix. Oklahoma City swept the Suns 4-0 and closed the series with a 131-122 win in Game 4, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scoring 31. This is not a team limping into Roun(heavy.com)ion of itself wins in May. (nba.com) ### Why are the Lakers talking about health so much? Because health is the whole series geometry. Luka Dončić has still not returned, and Austin Reaves only just made it back after a nine-game absence caused by a Grade 2 oblique injury. Reaves returned for Game 5 against Houston after averaging 23.3 points, 5.5 assists, and 4.7 rebou(nba.com)ron James — but it does not erase the bigger problem that one of their stars is still out. (nba.com) ### Why did Mark Daigneault mention Reaves? Because Oklahoma City clearly sees him as more than a complementary scorer. Daigneault said Reaves’ return “changes the equation,” which is coach-speak for this: the Lakers become harder to load up on when Reaves can handle, shoot, and create secondary off(nba.com)man LeBron survival act. (heavy.com) ### How bad was this matchup in the regular season? Pretty bad. NBA’s series preview noted that the Thunder beat the Lakers by an average of 29.3 points per game in the 2025-26 regular season — the largest point differential between two same-conference teams. That does not decide a playoff series by itself. But it explains why Redick’s quote lan(heavy.com) was acknowledging a team that had already hammered his. (nba.com) ### So was Redick lowering expectations? Partly, yes — but not in a cowardly way. Coaches do this when they want honesty without panic. By calling the Thunder historically great, Redick gave his locker room a clean starting point: respect the opponent, understand the scale of the challenge, and focus on the controllable stuff — m(nba.com)nding momentum from beating Houston automatically carries over. (heavy.com) ### What is the real takeaway? Redick’s quote matters because it resets the conversation. This series is not about whether the Lakers can “steal the spotlight.” It is about whether they can function well enough, long enough, against a team that looks historically strong on paper and dominant on the floor. If the Lakers make this competitive, that alone will say a lot. (ocregister.com)
