Redick on Why Russell Didn’t Play in 4th: ‘Level Of Compete’

The Los Angeles Lakers fell to the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday night, 131-114, as they tried to navigate what has been a rather difficult wave of injuries. One guy who hasn’t been hurt, though, is starting guard D’Angelo Russell, though he saw his minutes cut Wednesday — Russell exited the game with 5:54 left in the third quarter, didn’t reenter, and played just 21: 33 in the evening.

New Lakers coach JJ Redick decided to close the game with Gabe Vincent on the floor, and after the game he was asked why he kept Russell on the bench. As he explained, part of it was just wanting to see what Vincent was giving him, but with Russell there were some things he didn’t like to see.

“Competitive level, attention to detail, some of the things we’ve talked to him about for a couple of weeks and at times he’s been really good at it and other times it’s just getting back into certain habits,” Redick said the press after the game at 3:05 in the video above. “It wasn’t like a penalty, it just felt like we had a chance to win this game, that was the way we wanted to go. Gabe, in the first half, especially defensively, was great and I just wanted to see what it looked like.”

Russell went 4-for-12 from the field for 12 points, three assists and two steals before his night ended.