Day 2 got so physical that the coach had to cut it short. Lakers training camp Day 2 on Wednesday, September 30, at the UCLA Health Training Center in El Segundo featured a defensive group that kept running through drills harder than planned, a revealing admission from JJ Redick about his early coaching days, and the clearest hint yet about how he will use Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves together. “We actually had to modify the latter third of practice because these guys were just giving great effort and physicality,” Redick said. “So we cut a couple things, but it was wonderful.”
Here are the biggest takeaways, plus what comes next before Monday’s preseason opener.
Lakers Training Camp Day 2: The Wings Draw a “Line of Confrontation”
Asked who stood out, Redick did not single out one player. “I would just say all our wings,” he said. “We talked about a line of confrontation, so picking the ball up earlier, being disruptive earlier, eating at the shot clock earlier. And I think our physicality off the ball has been really good.”
Redick wants defenders meeting the ball higher on the floor. He described the roles with a phrase from assistant coach Greg St. Jean about “deploying the soldiers.” “The guys on the wing that know their assignment, we’re going to deploy them and they’re going to attack and they’re going to be aggressive,” Redick said. “And then we got to have commanders behind them using their voices, and that’s the responsibility of Walker and [Kevon] Looney.”
Quentin Grimes said the players could feel the difference. “It’s been high intensity from the start,” he said. “Picking up full court, everybody, all five guys trying to switch one-through-five. We went smaller a couple times today, so just having that intensity the whole practice. JJ can see it. We could all feel it. The coaches can feel it.”
Thybulle and Williams Are Making Life Hard on Reaves
Two newcomers on minimum deals are getting the most attention. Austin Reaves spent two days trying to score against them. “Let me tell you, trying to score on Matisse and Ziaire, especially with Adou out there too, and then Walker on the back line, is not easy,” Reaves said. “I had to deal with that all day yesterday and today, and it’s not fun. So, defensively, we’re going to be much better.”
Redick was just as direct about Ziaire Williams. “It starts with the defense,” he said. “He’s a pest. He’s disruptive. He’s got great length.” As for Matisse Thybulle, Redick joked that teammates will eventually learn not to throw passes into his lane, because he has already picked off passes about seven times in live play.
Asked whether he sees the makings of a championship team, Reaves answered simply: “I do.” The Lakers ranked 20th in defensive rating last season, so the improvement has to show up in games, not just in practice. For the full defensive blueprint, revisit our Media Day story on the new defense.
Luka and Reaves Kept Apart on Purpose
The most telling detail from Wednesday came on offense. Redick said Doncic and Reaves have not played on the same team in pickup or in the first two days of camp, and that it is intentional. With four practice groups, the staff wants every group to have enough shot creation. “Those guys are going to get a ton of reps together throughout the preseason,” Redick said, but the early focus is on organizing the early offense, not on finding final lineups.
For the regular season, he expects a classic stagger. “My expectation is that in general those guys will stagger, and we’ll have one of those guys on the court,” he said. “That’s generally what teams do, and that’s probably what we’ll do.” He named Collin Sexton, Grimes, Bronny James and Jaden Hardy as other players who can handle the ball and start offense when one of the stars sits. The leadership side of that partnership was the focus of our Luka and Reaves Media Day piece.
A Different Offense Without LeBron
Redick was honest that some of last season’s offense is gone. “LeBron playing through the post, playing through the elbow, Rui’s midrange, like there’s certain things that are missing, and then there’s certain things that we’ve added,” he said. His targets for the new group are clear: “I would expect us to be a better paint-touch team in terms of percentage of possessions that we touch the paint. I would expect us to be a higher volume three-point shooting team. I would expect us to be a better offensive rebounding team.”
Rotation Notes: The Bigs and the Switching Rules
Redick said Kessler and Looney will defend closer to the basket, while Sandro Mamukelashvili’s role will be “matchup dependent.” Some actions will still require switching across positions one through four, which Redick called non-negotiable. He also praised Jarred Vanderbilt for “multiple reps in a row that were textbook” in defensive breakdown drills, crediting three years in the same system.
Redick: “It Felt Like I Was Cosplaying”
Entering his third season, Redick offered a rare look inward. “Probably shouldn’t admit this, but early in my coaching career, it felt like I was cosplaying a little bit,” he said. “It was like I was pretending to be a coach. You get more reps, you get more comfortable. I don’t think the confidence was ever not there.” He added that the inner anger that drove him as a player is “not always a good thing as a coach,” and that he has come to believe calm works better. Reaves sees the growth. “Care factor is high. Intelligence is high,” he said. “He cares more than anybody else in the gym.”
Health Check and Luka’s Preseason Plan
On Day 1, Redick said every player practiced and that a couple of unnamed players skipped only the contact portion, with no health concerns. On Doncic’s preseason minutes, Redick confirmed: “He’ll play.” But he made clear the goal is rhythm and lineup balance, not “playing him 36 minutes and trying to win a game against another team’s G League team in the fourth quarter.” Catch up on the Day 1 news in our Lakers training camp opener recap.
Watch: JJ Redick’s Day 2 Practice Report
Hear Redick break down Wednesday’s practice in InfanityTV’s practice report:
Preseason Schedule: Five Games Starting Monday
The Lakers have only a few practices left before games start. Their five-game preseason schedule:
- Monday, Oct. 5: at Sacramento Kings
- Tuesday, Oct. 6: at Golden State Warriors
- Thursday, Oct. 8: vs. Sacramento Kings (Crypto.com Arena)
- Tuesday, Oct. 13: vs. Golden State Warriors (T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas)
- Friday, Oct. 16: vs. Denver Nuggets (Crypto.com Arena)
All preseason games air on Spectrum SportsNet, and the regular season opens October 21. Between now and then, watch for the first Doncic-Reaves minutes together, how Redick splits time on the wing, and whether this defense looks as nasty in games as it has in El Segundo. Follow InfanityTV for daily Lakers training camp coverage.
