JJ Redick challenged LeBron James, Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves in meeting before Grizzlies game

Ahead of one of the Lakers biggest games of the year, head coach JJ Redick gathered his big three of LeBron James, Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves and challenged them to step up.

There was no denying how important Saturday’s game in Memphis was for the Lakers.

Late in the season, tied in the standings with the Grizzlies, on a poor run of form, the Lakers really needed a win in the worst way.

So, head coach JJ Redick gathered his star players before the game and challenged them. In a meeting on Saturday morning, Redick implored the trio of LeBron James, Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves to be more aggressive and assertive.

“We challenged all three of them when we get to their three-man actions to play with a little more force, a little more thrust, a little more creativity,” Redick said. “We were able to get some great stuff in the fourth quarter off that and create the sort of advantages we envisioned creating when we put those three guys together. I told them this morning, it’s hard to create advantages against switches and, generally, they’re going to have three defenders that can all switch.

“But there was a defender that we felt like who didn’t necessarily want to switch and when we put those three guys in action in the fourth quarter, it was awesome.”

The Big Three responded in a huge way, scoring or assisting on 120 of the team’s 134 points. All three scored at least 25 points and handed out at least eight assists.

In short, it was their best performance as a unit in their brief time together, leading the team to a huge win.

“Me and Bron and Luka and JJ met this morning,” Reaves said in his walk-off interview with Spectrum SportsNet. “Obviously, Bron’s someone I grew up watching and then when Luka came into the league, he was one of my favorite players to watch. For them to trust me in big situations, it builds my confidence a lot. I probably know over 100 people in here tonight from Arkansas. So, just to come out here and play free and have fun is a lot of fun for me.”

Redick’s advice to the trio was to not just step up to the challenge, but make better use of the situations they were being put in. With the games ticking away and the playoffs fast approaching, the Lakers are running out of time to figure things out.

Redick, then, wanted his stars to figure things out and, specifically, don’t get stuck in the habit of trying the same thing over and over again.

“If we put you in an environment, don’t do the same thing every time,” Redick said of his message during their meeting. “If we put you in an environment, make everything live. Exhaust every option. Allow us to call a set where all three of you are involved and then just exhaust every option so we can keep going back to it.”

On Saturday, in their biggest game of the season, the trio responded to the call. For many reasons, it’s an encouraging sign for the future. With the playoffs around the corner, having this trio click on all cylinders is the only way the team will make a deep run.

Passing that test in one of the biggest games of the year is a great way to start.

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.