The Los Angeles Lakers will likely have some firsts in 2024-25.
Lakers head coach JJ Redick will be on the bench for the first time in his professional career. Bronny James will most likely play his first NBA minutes. If so, LeBron James could share the court with him and form the first active father-son duo in league history.
What won’t be new is their starting eleven, as Redick has has already made his decision on who will make up their first unit.
On the latest episode of “The Lowe Post,” he revealed that the Lakers will be fielding the five players who “went 23-10 last year.” In the span Redick is referring to, the Lakers have lined up LeBron James, Anthony Davis, D’Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura. From Feb. 1 through the end of the 2023-24 season, that quintet has brought the team back to life like Lazarus.
Their chemistry on the court was excellent. They started and finished games better. They even beat playoff teams like the Boston Celtics, Oklahoma City Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves. In fact, the Lakers played so well with this group that one of the main talking points was why it took former coach Darvin Ham so long to get them together.
Even so, there was good reason to wonder who Redick would choose as his starter.
Sure, James and Davis were sure things; the team probably won’t be able to clinch a playoff spot without them. Reaves, a fan and franchise favorite, was all but assured. However, after Russell collapsed in another playoff series, his spot wasn’t guaranteed. Hachimura, who started less than half the games he played for Los Angeles, was the least secure of them all.
More NBA: Former Lakers forward, 10-time All-Star reveals his feelings about potential NBA return
