Superstars play by rules that other athletes simply don’t have the luxury of operating within. Whether fair or foul, it’s the nature of the beast in sports, especially when discussing a 5-on-5 encounter in which one player can swing the momentum of a game.
That reality appears to be thoroughly understood by Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick as he prepares for his first season at the helm.
Redick will have a unique opportunity to coach two of the best players in the NBA during his first year in Los Angeles: Anthony Davis and LeBron James. The Lakers’ superstar duo has already won a championship and reached a second Conference Finals, but there’s always room for improvement.
In a recent interview, Redick explained how he plans to tweak the way Davis plays by adjusting his approach to three-point shooting.
For those who watch or listen to the video, Redick said the following:
“We have talked just about a willingness to shoot. We are not concerned about volume, necessarily. There just has to be a willingness to shoot the basketball and he’s done that and it seems like he’s really embraced that.”
The Lakers head coach continued, stating that the willingness to shoot more threes must be a result of the system enabling Davis to do so:
“You have to take good threes. They have to be rhythm threes. He has to be in a position within our structure to take those threes. There’s a lot more that goes into it than just, ‘Hey, we want you shooting threes.’ But his form is excellent and that’s reflected, he’s always been a really good free throw shooter. So that should translate.”
It may not be the most traditional approach to three-point shooting in an era that emphasizes efficiency above else, but it’s a reasonable strategy by Redick.
JJ Redick wants Anthony Davis to shoot—make or miss
As Redick mentioned, it doesn’t particularly matter how many threes Davis attempts, nor what his percentage is. What’s important is that he’s willing to put shots up when opposing defenses give him the space to do so or the system has created them for him.
Whether he’s making or missing the shot, Davis is still a five-time All-NBA honoree with a career average of 24.1 points per game—and teams will thus respect his jumper.
On the nights that it’s falling, Davis’ jump shot will simplify the game for himself and his teammates. Points will be easier to come by and defenders will be even closer to him when he’s operating along the perimeter, thus creating driving lanes for the likes of LeBron James and Austin Reaves.
When it isn’t, teams will still need to remain in the vicinity of one of the most prolific scorers of the 21st century—due in no small part to his ability to drive or post from anywhere on the court.
The obvious hope is that Davis can return to the level that he reached during the Lakers’ championship season in 2019-20. He averaged 26.1 points and 1.2 three-point field goals made per game that year, shooting 33.0 percent from beyond the arc.
Davis knocked down 33.3 percent of his attempts from distance between 2017-18 and 2019-20, which may not be elite, but certainly requires a defender to get a hand in his face.
A willingness to shoot will also mean less indecisiveness on the offensive end of the floor from Davis and the team at large. That’s an exhilarating thought considering the five-time All-NBA honoree has averaged upwards of 28.0 points per game in two different seasons already.
It remains to be seen how this new development will impact Davis’ quality of play in 2024-25, but the projections are promising for one of the best players in the NBA.
