Lakers Head Coach Pays Respect to OKC Thunder

On Tuesday the Oklahoma City Thunder are taking on the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 1 of their Round 2 bout. The Thunder are attempting to buck the current trend of parity in the NBA.

Oklahoma City, who already has captured their third straight No. 1 seed in the Western Conference and capped off its third straight sweep of their first round matchup. Now, the Thunder take sight at being the first team since the 2018 Golden State Warriors to go back-to-back as NBA Champions. None of the past six champions have made it out of the second round in thier title defense season. The Thunder's quest for greatness now bucks up against the biggest brand in the league.

Ahead of this series, the Lakers have had three straight off days after downing the Houston Rockets in Friday's Game 6. This has given plenty of time for head coach JJ Redick and his team to preview the second round series with the defending champions. The Purple and Gold bench boss had high praise for this title team.

"We saw a stat in our morning meeting, teams that have had back-to-back, 10 or more better net ratings in consecutive seasons, you're talking about the '95-'96 Bulls and '96-'97 Bulls and the '15-'17 Warrriors. You're literally talking about two of the greatest teams of all time. I said to a bunch of people yesterday off site talking about this series, to me, the Thunder is one of the greatest teams ever in NBA history. It's just the reality. They're that good. I think our guys recognize that and respect that, and we know what kind of task we have in front of us," Redick said at Lakers practice Sunday.

The Oklahoma City Thunder's dominance will not catch the Lakers off guard. Redick and company will be prepared against a team that not only is the defending champions, not only rattled off 64 wins in the regular season, but defeated the Purple and Gold four times in the regular season. Los Angeles will not just roll over, though. The Bricktown Ballers know that. In part because of the high quality coaching job Redick has done with Los Angeles.

Over the weekend, OKC Thunder head man Mark Daigneault lobbed praise at Redick for the job he has done pacing the sidelines.

"I first got to know [JJ Redick] when he was doing TV, because they'll do production meetings. So I've had sit-downs with him. I've enjoyed my time with him. I have kept in light contact with him since he got the job," Daigneault detailed. "But I think he's done an exceptional job in, obviously, a high-profile market, with a high-profile team. He's just put his head down and put his team in positions of advantage on both ends of the floor. He's done a great job navigating a lot of different situations. And I have high respect for his coaching."

The lead into this series has been respectful on both sides. On Tuesday, the ball will tip on what should be a must watch second round bout for all NBA fans. Not only featuring arguably the best player to ever suit up in LeBron James, but the regining NBA MVP –– and should soon be two time NBA MVP –– Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and plenty of supporting stars such as Chet Holmgren and Austin Reaves. The storylines are already piling up, including with the uncertain status of Jalen Williams and the wait to see if Luka Doncic can join this series at any point.

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