Former Philadelphia 76ers guard JJ Redick wrapped up his first season as a head coach on Wednesday when the Los Angeles Lakers were eliminated by the Minnesota Timberwolves in Round 1 of the playoffs. The Wolves went into LA and defeated the Lakers 103-96 in Game 5 to win the series 4-1.
Redick has received scrutiny in this series for how he has handled things at times. The biggest criticism was him not making a substitution in the second half of their Game 4 loss on Sunday. During his pregame media session, Redick was asked by a reporter whether he will lean on his assistants a bit more for subs as he is a rookie head coach and may want to lean on them more.
Redick took exception to the question and after a brief back-and-forth with the reporter stormed out of his pregame presser.
In response to Redick’s reaction, Sixers legend and basketball Hall of Famer Charles Barkley wasn’t happy with how he handled things:
“He’s just a little sensitive. One of the things that people say is they never watch television. We all lie. All jocks watch television. He’s been getting criticized the last 48 hours for playing those guys, and he’s just sensitive. Everybody’s afraid to say, ‘I was wrong.’ All he had to do was say, ‘Hey, you know what? I shouldn’t have played those guys the whole second half,’ and that’s it. Then it would’ve been over.”