JJ Redick Defends LeBron James's 'Insane Miss' in Final Moments of Lakers' Loss

New Lakers coach reacts to LeBron James’s badly missed free throw.

LeBron James walks off the court after the Lakers’ first loss of the season. / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Lakers lost their first game of the season on Tuesday, dropping a close contest to the Phoenix Suns. Devin Booker led Phoenix with 33 points and Kevin Durant added 30 in the 109-105 Phoenix victory. LeBron James struggled, scoring 11 points on 3-of-14 shooting.

James would have had 12, but he intentionally missed a free throw in the final seconds with the Lakers down two. Some questioned his decision since there were 6.4 seconds remaining, but coach JJ Redick backed his star and former podcast co-host.

"Everybody that was on the floor knew what was happening," Redick told the press after the game. "It was an insane miss to be honest with you. I don't know that I've ever seen an intentional miss that hit the bottom of the rim and then went straight down."

JJ on LeBron's intentional missed FT:

"We communicated that. It was an insane miss" https://t.co/gxBlLNOweV pic.twitter.com/aTm5QdTzDg

— Oh No He Didn't (@ohnohedidnt24) October 29, 2024

Redick also explained the thinking in going for an intentional miss in that situation.

"You know, look, we had no timeouts," Redick continued. "It was a choice that we made. I think that's the right choice and I'd make that choice again... with that amount of time. You know, they fouled up three so even if we fouled earlier on that play they've got great free throw shooters. They were going to foul us again. So we had to get that possession for us to have a chance to tie or win that game."

While it all makes sense, the fact that the Lakers won their first three games of the season definitely helped with the explanation.

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