The Los Angeles Lakers clinched a playoff spot Tuesday night, securing their 50th win of the season with a 127-113 demolition of the Cleveland Cavaliers. It marks back-to-back 50-win campaigns under JJ Redick, a feat no Lakers coach had accomplished since Phil Jackson in 2010 and 2011.
As someone many dismissed as a podcaster playing dress-up when he was hired, Redick has made his critics look foolish. ESPN’s Kendrick Perkins, one of Redick’s most vocal doubters, has joined the chorus of believers.
Kendrick Perkins’ Praise for JJ Redick Carries Weight
After the win, Perkins took to X to acknowledge what seemed impossible just weeks ago: “Gotta give 💐 to JJ Reddick for turning this team around… because before the All-Star break I thought they were Dead Bird Tall Grass!!!”
Gotta give 💐 to JJ Reddick for turning this team around… because before the All-Star break I thought they were Dead Bird Tall Grass!!! https://t.co/ug1bt8AXUp
— Kendrick Perkins (@KendrickPerkins) April 1, 2026
This isn’t lip service from a talking head covering his tracks. Perkins spent the better part of two months eviscerating Redick on national television. After the Lakers stumbled to a 1-3 start following the All-Star break, Perkins declared on First Take: “JJ got more excuses than a brother going to jail. Now it’s time for you to coach. Get the attention of your locker room.”
The numbers told an ugly story then. Los Angeles ranked 24th in defensive rating, and Perkins questioned whether Redick had lost his locker room entirely. He even suggested LeBron James and the Lakers’ relationship was “one foot on the grave and the other on a banana peel.”
That was six weeks ago. Since then, the Lakers have gone 16-2 and posted a dominant 15-2 record in March. Their defense has tightened, their rotations have stabilized, and their star player has been on a heater for the ages.
Luka Dončić averaged 37.5 points on 49.2% shooting in March, punctuating the turnaround with 42 points against Cleveland. And after all that, he credited his coach directly. “It’s been great. He’s a hell of a coach,” Dončić said. “I’m excited to get coached by him everyday so he deserves it. Obviously, a lot of work to do, but it’s been great.”
Redick, characteristically, deflected praise when asked about joining Jackson’s company. “Don’t deserve to be mentioned along with Phil or Pat or any of those guys,” he said. “I’ve got a lot left to accomplish for sure. I’ve had the same staff for the most part of both years. We are resilient and we are resolved.”
That humility tracks with how Lakers brass viewed him from the start. When general manager Rob Pelinka extended Redick’s contract last September, he called him “a special coach with a special voice” who was “helping us continue to define the culture of Lakers excellence.” The gamble on an inexperienced podcaster has paid dividends that few outside the building anticipated.
The Lakers now sit as the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference, projected to face the Houston Rockets in the first round. Win that series, and a potential Western Conference Finals collision with the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder looms. Redick hasn’t won a playoff series yet. That remains the next hurdle. But for now, even his loudest critics are admitting what the standings already confirmed: the man can coach.
