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LeBron James and JJ Redick Pull Off Tactical Ploy They First Conspired in Podcast

To foul or to not foul up six points late?

Kyle Koster

LeBron James and JJ Redick cooked up some strategy.
LeBron James and JJ Redick cooked up some strategy. / @Rome_Beast on X

Basketball coaches have understood for that if you're up six points late and intentionally foul then it can turn things from a two-possession game into a three-possession game. JJ Redick may be first (and is certainly the most high-profile) to ever say such a thing into a microphone, having discussed the situation with LeBron James on the Mind The Game podcast before their relationship turned into player-coach.

The clip is newly relevant today because it appears the duo put this knowledge into practice during Wednesday night's victory over the Memphis Grizziles. With the Lakers enjoying a 126-120 lead with 18.1 seconds remaining in regulation, James committed a personal take foul on Marcus Smart.

Los Angeles Lakers
Lakers employed a unique strategy against the Grizzlies. / ESPN Game Log

Smart made the first and missed the second attempt. Grizzlies big man Santi Aldama actually grabbed an offensive rebound and was able to score a putback to close the Lakers' lead down to three—which is a good reminder that the strategy is not infallible.

Anthony Davis, however, sank two free throws to give Los Angeles the necessary breathing room.

It's a small thing, but small things can make all the difference, so opposing coaches should be going through that old podcast episode by episode for clues to what James and Redick are going to do in specific situations.

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Kyle Koster
KYLE KOSTER

Kyle Koster is an assistant managing editor at Sports Illustrated covering the intersection of sports and media. He was formerly the editor in chief of The Big Lead, where he worked from 2011 to '24. Koster also did turns at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he created the Sports Pros(e) blog, and at Woven Digital.

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