The NBA is the premier basketball competition in the world. Thoroughly dominant in its structure, the league has produced some legendary athletes and is a key reason for Team USA’s success in the Olympics.
However, becoming a successful player isn’t a natural given. As the competition level rises, only the cream of the crop can rise to the top. Recently, Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick, who had a 15-year career in the NBA before his coaching career took shape, revealed an underrated aspect of maintaining your spot in the league.
Why Lakers Coach JJ Redick Emphasizes Mental Toughness
A spectacular prospect at Duke, Redick came into the league as a first-round pick and was immediately one of the best sharpshooters in the sport. Making the playoffs for 13 consecutive seasons to start his career, he always elevated his team.
Now, as he’s taken over the head coaching job for the Lakers, the results have been mostly positive. From navigating the Luka Dončić trade to keeping them as a top-four seed this year, he has made them a force to be reckoned with.
However, a remarkable season has fallen by the wayside due to some devastating news. Dončić and Austin Reaves have both suffered significant injuries that are going to keep them out of the start of the playoffs, at the very least.
Speaking to reporters, he said that the emotional toll has been heavy on the team.
Despite winning back-to-back games against the Golden State Warriors and the Phoenix Suns, he reiterated that point. Redick then spoke candidly about the emotional factor that sometimes flies under the radar during a player’s basketball career. “Talent and skill matter, but it’s the nature of human beings and participating in a group and working together.”
in light of his (very self aware, i thought) comments about how he felt he may have underestimated the emotional toll losing luka and ar took on his team, i asked @jj_redick if he thinks emotions are an underestimated factor in basketball in general pic.twitter.com/gZeAk9mmbR
— claire de lune (@ClaireMPLS) April 11, 2026
Continuing, he added, “It’s emotional regulation, mental toughness. That’s what this is at this level. It’s why some players can’t get beyond their rookie contract. It’s not necessarily because of talent or skill. I’ve played with a lot of guys that were McDonald’s All-Americans, not a lot of them made the NBA.”
But even at the professional level, there was a distinction. “I played with guys that did make the NBA. Not a lot of them had a 15-year career.”
Even name-dropping players like Chris Bosh, Amar’e Stoudemire, and Carmelo Anthony, Redick believed they were more talented than him.
“That’s how mentally tough you are. Part of that is when you have adversity, or something doesn’t go the way you want it, or you mess up a play, or you mess up as a coach, you gotta confront those things and address them.”
Even with that mental aspect of it working to the Lakers’ advantage, especially with the presence of veterans like Redick and Marcus Smart, not to mention LeBron James, it is going to be a tough challenge to walk into the playoffs without two of their best players.
That could ultimately prove to be their undoing, but it doesn’t look like LA is ready to lie down without a fight.
