Los Angeles Lakers center Deandre Ayton credited first-year head coach JJ Redick for building a team-wide culture that has fueled the club’s 6-2 start to the 2025-26 season.
Speaking after Monday night’s 123-115 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers at Moda Center, Ayton said the tone was set in training camp. “JJ not giving a crap who’s out there, he wants to play Laker basketball,” Ayton told reporters. “Anything he says, we can trust it, and he’s proven that point a few times.”
Los Angeles entered the game without LeBron James and Austin Reaves and has been without Luka Doncic for four of the first eight contests. Redick relied on a backcourt of Nick Smith Jr., Marcus Smart and Bronny James on the second night of a back-to-back, a lineup widely viewed as a concession before tip-off.
Instead, Smith scored 25 points off the bench, Rui Hachimura added 28, and Ayton led the way with 29 points and 10 rebounds against his former team. The former No. 1 overall pick, traded to Portland in 2023 and signed by the Lakers to a two-year deal last offseason, called the performance “really legit” and evidence that the fundamentals installed by Redick are working.
Ayton reached the NBA Finals with Phoenix in 2021, spent two underutilized seasons in Portland and is now averaging 20.4 points and 11.1 rebounds through eight games with Los Angeles. Monday’s win marked the first time in recent seasons that the Lakers have defeated an opponent missing multiple stars, something Ayton attributes to Redick’s insistence on professionalism and consistent effort.
Source: lakersnation.com
