The game between the Orlando Magic and the Los Angeles Lakers had it all. JJ Redick’s side lost the tightly contested affair after a deep 3-pointer from Franz Wagner, dropping the Lakers faithful to their knees. It’s not a matter of Cam Reddish playing terrible defense, but it became a great basket by Wagner. With post-match conferences pointing out Anthony Davis’ inefficiency from the free-throw line, LeBron James and JJ Redick had differing opinions.

In the post-match presser, James mentioned, “Because it’s a 48 minute game you just can’t point to the free-throw. Those are obviously you want to try to close out the game. We had our chances. We missed them and you move on.” The four-time NBA champion showed his empathetic side to his teammate and friend Davis, while Redick favored a different approach.

“Comfortable with our execution, up until the missed free-throws and the Wagner three,” said Redick in his press conference, frankly admitting, that AD not hitting clutch free-throws surely made a difference. Moreover, during Franz Wagner’s three-point attempt, AD fell for the switch when Jalen Suggs went to the perimeter, creating space for Wagner. He took a step-back three and bang!

It felt like a dagger in the hearts of the Lakers family with the side 10-4 heading to the match. Yet, things went sour for the Laker nation, who looks to bounce back in the next game. As for Redick, he loved game plan execution, but those missed chances and defensive stops cost the game. It all started with AD missing clutch free throws.

With 19 seconds to go, Davis picked the ball up and tried to extend the score to a four-point gap. Yet, after missing the free throws, Wagner caught hold of the ball and hit the game-winner. Yet, Davis had the opportunity to win the game but threw an airball in the end. He looked dejected on his way back to the locker room. Although Redick didn’t blame him directly, Anthony Davis’ concerns about having JJ at the helm come to our minds during this situation.

Anthony Davis preferred another coach for the Lakers!

When the Los Angeles Lakers went out with their checkbook to search for a new coach, the players had a preference. No, we’re not blowing this up, but it’s great to refresh our memory. Anthony Davis did not want JJ Redick in the first place. According to Yardbarker, Anthony Davis wanted Pelicans assistant coach James Borrego over JJ Redick, in the place of Darvin Ham. The relationship between Borrego and Davis became fruitful during the power forward’s time with the Pelicans.

Apart from that, there is one talking point we can’t forget. When the NBA had the voter ballots for this year’s awards/honors, Redick did not vote Davis to the All-NBA Defensive team. He instead went for Victor Wembanyama, Rudy Gobert, Alex Caruso, Herb Jones, and Bam Adebayo. Do you guys smell something strange?

He did not even vote him to the All-NBA 2nd Defensive team. The Lakers star finished with a better defensive rating than some names mentioned on that list. Davis had told ESPN how “They’re not giving it to me. The league doesn’t like me.”

But you know Anthony Davis remains a crucial player on the Lakers. His presence in the paint gives Redick an outlet as he dominates that area in the court. For the Lakers, go forward and win the next game!