A Gonzaga player wants to switch to the WARRIORS team.
LA’s new ‘genius’ might intensify the Warriors-Lakers rivalry.
The NBA, constantly combing the globe for every nickel, aired all four Warriors vs. Los Angeles Lakers games on national television last season, following a pattern established the previous two seasons. Of course. It’s a rivalry of sorts between two teams who have a lot in common.
The league, for the most part, is doing smart business.
Which is aware that the matchups are about to grow heated. The addition of JJ Redick as Lakers coach adds a dose of flavor. Redick, like Warriors coach Steve Kerr ten years earlier, is a former NBA shooting guard making his first foray into coaching and determined to prove himself capable.
While Kerr needed to win over the Warriors after Mark Jackson led them to back-to-back NBA playoff appearances for the first time in 20 years, the Lakers are immediately jumping on the Redick bandwagon. Perhaps they realized it had LeBron James’ approval.
But Los Angeles guard Austin Reaves, who evaluated the offseason at the recent American Century Championship golf tournament in Lake Tahoe, puts his faith in Redick to the highest degree possible.
“It’s been great,” Reaves told NBC Sports Bay Area during the latest “Dubs Talk.” “We hired JJ and then drafted two pretty strong players. I had a good talk with JJ. I believe he’s a basketball genius.
“He knows the game well and has been playing for a long time, so he’s been right in the middle of the action. I believe he’ll be able to control games rather well.”
Okay, now. It appears like Los Angeles’ new sheriff has his troops unified. The Lakers have done some minor retooling, whereas the Warriors have significantly reshaped not only their squad but also their identity.
Klay Thompson, Golden State’s shooting guard since 2011, has departed the scene. The Splash Brothers are no more, so the Warriors have recruited two veteran guards, Buddy Hield and De’Anthony Melton, as well as veteran forward Kyle Anderson.
Despite growing up in Southern California and being a huge fan of Los Angeles Lakers player Kobe Bryant, Thompson picked the Dallas Mavericks over the Lakers when he became an unrestricted free agency this past summer.
Reaves is left to speculate what may have happened.
“When you get a guy with that high level of professionalism, that’s been in so many big games, that he contributed … you think back to a lot of those playoff runs where he single-handedly won games for [Golden State],” he told ESPN. “And massive games. I believe it was Game 6 versus OKC (right, 2016), and he went completely insane. You want to team up with a man who can shoot the ball so effectively and is the ultimate competitor.
“But he traveled to Dallas. I admire him for overcoming his disabilities and enduring a lot of criticism along the road.
However, this does not decrease the real or psychological stakes that will be on the line when the Warriors and Lakers meet next season. Some of the faces have changed, but the two leaders, Stephen Curry of Golden State and LeBron James of Los Angeles, will continue to represent.
Curry and James, who have competed in the NBA Finals for four years in a row, are their generation’s twin touchstones. That gives them automatic rivalry status whenever they confront each other.
“I really think it’s almost Bron against them, just because they played against each other for so long,” Reaves told the crowd. “We are in the finals. When you know you have Bron and Steph on your squad, you can always expect high-level basketball, especially against each other. They constantly try to play their best against one other.”
The majority of individuals involved in recent seasons remain in position. The Lakers still have the formidable pair of Anthony Davis and James, and Reaves is on the rise. The Warriors’ leaders continue to be Draymond Green and Stephen Curry.
Klay will be missed, but there will be plenty heat in the room.
“With Steve and Steph still being there, and obviously Draymond, I think it’s going to be a lot of the same,” Reaves told reporters. “They have Buddy now, and he can shoot it. I haven’t looked at it in depth, but what happens if you just insert Buddy into the Klay role? I’m not saying that’s what they’re going to do, but it seems reasonable at first glance.
“But anytime you got Steph on the team, you’ve got an opportunity to win because he’s such an amazing player.”
The NBA will reveal the 2024-25 schedule next month. Rivalries will be identified. Wisdom and money will result in four more national television games between the Warriors and the Lakers.
