Every time you open your phone and type “JJ Redick Lakers,” you already know what’s coming. Another headline. Another crisis. Another attempt to explain why a team with Luka Dončić and LeBron James somehow can’t stop anybody.
“Lakers coach searches for defensive answers.”
“Redick calls out effort.”
“Is this the worst Lakers defense in years?”
Pick your poison.
After a 115 – 107 win over a shorthanded Nuggets squad, Redick was brutally honest – again.
“My staff, our analytics team — this is literally all we’re doing right now. We’re trying to figure out the best way for this group to play defense.”
That alone tells you everything. We’re at the midpoint of the season. We’re nearly one full year removed from the blockbuster trade that brought Luka Dončić to Los Angeles. And the Lakers are still searching for a defensive identity.
That’s progress, technically. Back in December, Redick didn’t even think strategy mattered. He thought it was all about willpower.
“It comes down to making the choice. You either do the hard thing, or you don’t.”
Here’s the uncomfortable truth:
The Lakers are choosing wrong – a lot.
The Numbers Don’t Lie (And They’re Ugly)
Let’s strip away the excuses.
• 25th in defensive rating this season
• 29th since December
• 117.3 points allowed per 100 possessions
• 119.2 since December
Only one team has been worse recently: the Utah Jazz — and they’re on pace for the worst defensive season in NBA history.
This isn’t a bad stretch. This is an identity.
The Luka Problem Nobody Wants to Say Out Loud
Here’s where things get uncomfortable in Lakerland.
No player in the NBA gets hunted more on defense than Luka Dončić.
According to Synergy, opponents finish 2.2 isolation possessions per game directly against Luka — more than anyone else in the league. And that stat doesn’t even count how many times teams try to force switches onto him.
Translation:
When the game slows down, opposing offenses circle Luka in red marker.
Is he alone? No.
Is he the entire problem? Also no.
But pretending it isn’t a problem is how championship dreams die quietly.
The Roster Makes It Worse
The Lakers didn’t just inherit Luka’s defensive weaknesses — they amplified them.
• LeBron James: legendary mind, declining lateral quickness
• Austin Reaves: smart, competitive, but not a stopper
• Deandre Ayton: talented, but far from an elite rim protector
There is no defensive backbone here. No perimeter bulldog. No erase-at-the-rim safety net. Luka is being asked to survive defensively with zero margin for error.
And that’s not how championship teams are built.
The Counterargument (And It Matters)
Here’s the part that keeps this debate alive.
A 24-year-old Luka Dončić just dragged Dallas to the 2024 NBA Finals.
That Mavericks team?
• 18th-ranked defense
• Kyrie Irving as his co-star
• Daniel Gafford, Derrick Jones Jr., P.J. Washington filling in the gaps
Not elite. Not dominant. Just functional.
And they were three wins away from a title.
That’s the lesson the Lakers have to learn.
You don’t build around Luka’s defense.
You build around Luka’s greatness.
Surround him with long, switchable, two-way players who can absorb pressure. Hide his weaknesses. Let him be what he is — one of the five best basketball players alive.
So… Fact or Fiction?
Fiction: That Luka Dončić’s defense makes championship contention impossible.
Fact: That this Lakers roster, as currently constructed, has no shot.
Luka is averaging 33.4 points, 8.7 assists, and 7.8 rebounds. That’s not a flaw. That’s a foundation.
The real question isn’t whether you can build a champion around Luka.
It’s whether the Lakers front office — the same one that’s stumbled repeatedly since 2020 — can finally get out of its own way.
They’ve won a title before.
They landed Luka.
They developed Austin Reaves.
The blueprint exists.
Now comes the hardest part:
Actually following it.
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