GOAT. Sniper. Competitive. Sometimes, one word is enough to say everything one needs to about an NBA player. One word that summarizes all the points, rebounds, or overall basketball prowess that the athlete can display on the court. At the same time, one word can be enough to highlight the downfall of a player or even a team. In the aftermath of the Los Angeles Lakers’ blowout loss against the Miami Heat, JJ Redick, former players, and several fans became unintentionally connected by using that one word in their critique.

During the post-game presser, all eyes were on the Lakers head coach. Once again failing to get out of the hole, JJ Redick and the Lakers have now lost six of the last 8 matchups. But this one particular stung because of how it happened.

When asked to give a post-game message in light of recent events, the 40-year-old outright stated, “There has to be some ownership. I think when a group is not performing well…. which happens. It happens to bad teams, it happens to good teams, It happens to great teams. You can splinter, and it’s easy to not want the ownership. Particularly when it’s embarrassing. I’m embarrassed, we’re all embarrassed.”

Embarrassed. The one feeling that several members of the Lakers roster would have certainly felt. After all, this is the same team that started off the season with three straight wins. Through fair progression, they even established a 10-4 record. However, the downfall started from there. Teams like the Phoenix Suns, Denver Nuggets, and even Orlando Magic gave tough competition to LeBron James & Co. Now, the same record stands at 12-10!

The Wednesday night Heat-Lakers game ended with a 41-point margin (134-93) in favor of Miami. Add that to the 29-point margin by which the Timberwolves defeated the Lakers in the previous game, and it marks the worst two-game stretch ever recorded in LA’s history. In light of this, the criticism for the LA franchise came in abundance.

The Lakers’ Embarrassing display in Miami rubs people the wrong way

Amongst the known names who made their opinions heard was none other than Magic Johnson himself. Taking to his X account, the 5x NBA champion wrote, “I’m embarrassed for the Lakers. They were down 32 points to the Miami Heat 105-72 at the end of the third quarter.” Another renowned face of the Lakers’ iconic ‘Showtime’ Era, James Worthy, suggested that the players should get some White Castle Burgers, take a trip to Atlanta on their bus, and use the time to think.

Along with the suggestion came the criticism, as Worthy added, “It’s really … no words to explain it other than it’s embarrassing.” JJ Redick took responsibility for the loss and highlighted his inner feelings as best as he could. However, for the coach, taking the blame goes both ways. As a result, the coach didn’t shy away from asking his players to admit to their faults too.

“I can’t physically get us organized, I can’t physically be into the basketball, I can’t physically talk and call out reds and physically call out coverages. I’m not blaming players, I own this. But there needs to be ownership on the court as well,” Redick stated.

Lakers Nation host Trevor Lane wrote nothing more than “embarrassing” on his X feed as his reaction. Jovan Buha, who has been covering the Lakers for 13 seasons, also stated in his post-game reaction that “This was embarrassing”.

LeBron James was the only player from his team who scored at least 20 points on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Rui Hachimura and D’Angelo Russell followed behind with just 14 and 12 points, respectively. Anthony Davis, despite being on the court for 31 minutes, could only make 8 points! Missed attempts plagued the Kaseya Center, as he went 3-14 with his field goals.

Therefore, to summarize everything, “Embarrassed” or “Embarrassing” was used a lot. With these words circulating so much now, the Lakers may want to avoid getting into this kind of situation again. Their next game against the Atlanta Hawks, a team against whom they hold a 7-3 record over the past 10 games, may provide as good an opportunity to change the perception.