JJ Reddick on his starting lineup: ‘I’m pretty confident in three of the spots … the other two spots will not be two white guys.’
I assume this is in response to the ESPN graphic of Luka Reaves Laravia Mamu and Kessler being the projected starting lineup.
It will probably be Luka/Reaves/Grimes/LaRavia/Kessler.
I don’t think laravia starts, probably Ziaire, Thybulle or Mamu. Also Pelinka said there might even be a consolidation trade coming.
Thybulle isnt a starting caliber nba player it’s gonna be mamu
Consolidation trade makes sense given all the talent on that roster.
You forgot this… s/
A white consolidation or what
Damn you got all our wing draftees
I’ve seen a bunch of both and Laravia is 10 times the player Ziaire is.
Man their forward rotation is kinda anemic I don’t see enough people talking about that.
Luka going from DJJ/PJ Washington on a Finals team to Grimes and LaRavia? Big downgrade, not sure if that gets you through the West
There are no starting forwards on the roster unless one considers Grimes to be a starting forward.
I mean, let’s be real, Luka is a forward and people calling him a point guard are just being silly. He guards forwards on defense because he’s too slow to keep up with guards. Simply running the offense doesn’t instantly make someone a point guard or else we’ll have to have a very awkward conversation about guys like Jokic and LeBron. None of this really matters anymore since all-nba teams are positionless now which really eliminated any point in position arguments.
Luka . That is all.
The entire way this Lakers team is discussed confuses me. It feels like people just handwave away the loss of Lebron James and multiple valuable role players (Rui, Smart, and Kennard). The team that beat the Rockets is gone.
I think they can be a solid team, but it’s basically all dependent on Luka going nuclear for 72+ games. The rest of the roster seems much worse than other recent Mavs/Lakers teams around him.
Don’t forget Hayes, he made huge leaps in terms of maturity, not fouling, and was a perfect lob threat. He would be ideal in the looney spot. But then idk how Mamu gets backup 5 mins
ESPN projected them to finish just 2 games above the playin.
They had Lakers at 6th with 45 wins and Blazers at 7th 43 wins.
Lots of media people are pretty down on the roster. Heck a lot of Lakers fans have doubts too. Lol.
Yeah a PJ type player can elevate this team to real playoff contenfer
Thybulle and Ziaire aren’t terrible.
LaRavia was a positive defender last year, obviously not DJJ or PJ. If he isn’t the 2nd most played minutes on the Lakers like last season, they’ll be in good position (that’s how scuffed/injured their rotation was last season).
They basically have a bunch of, “Good enough to be rotation guys, can they step up to be a starter?”-type players. We’ll see if any can make a jump.
Also forgetting; Kessler is significantly better than any combo of bigs Luka’s played with.
Seems like LaRavia’s already been ruled out though (not enough melanin)
No he hasn’t. “Will not be two white guys” does not mean that neither will be white
Yeah but I guess it rules out two white guys in a trenchcoat for one of the spots
Is LaRavia good enough to start?
With his shot falling. Probably.
Without his shot falling, he looks like a 10-15 type of player.
Laravia somehow in the starting line up is room for firing someone there’s no freaking way that guy is a starter on an nba team that’s serious
He started 43 games last year
Yeah and it’s not like there’s a clear cut starter for the Lakers at that position, lol.
A lot of them are questionable as much as Laravia is.
And y’all weren’t serious.
Brother he literally said the other 2 spots won’t be white guys 😂
He said 2 white guys
There is no way LaRavia is starting
Grimes in the starting lineup is still so OD to see lol. Hope he has a good career in LA’
Why pay Mamu and not start him?
It’s in response to everyone joking with him about the Snowtime Lakers all summer
Seems pretty clear in context that he’s joking about the all white lineups people have been memeing about all summer. It’s not that deep, but clearly some people are up in arms…
Likely AR/Grimes/Williams or Thybulle/Luka/Kessler
Who’s the 2 other starters then? Grimes and who else? Genuine question.
I think grimes, and then one of Laravia, ziaiare williams, or mamu.
Gotcha! Thanks. Would’ve guessed Mamu, but I didn’t know if he considered him white or not despite his skin being….uhhhh…white.
He is literally Caucasian.
Any chance of Carr?
Highly doubtful
My guess is Thybulle. His defense will be important and he’s a pretty good shooter these days.
Probably too small. They need some size in that position, going against the likes of Barnes and Adams
Sorry I’ve been kinda out of the loop on FA but why the fuck did they let Rui Hachimura leave? Too much $?
No he only got 6 million I think. Just a fit thing. JJ wanted more players that can shoot pass and dribble on offfense. Rui was basically just a 3 point shooter who prob doesn’t shoot enough.
Not really, they had cap space. But bringing him back would reduce how much they had to offer other free agents. So they decided they would be better off allocating it differently.
Like I think they had 26 million left after Kessler, he could’ve got some of that but they gave it to grimes and Mamu.
It’s because they gave too much to AR, proven playoff choker, traffic cone, and regular season hero. Instead of playoff riser and proven Rui Hachimura.
It’s clear what path the Lakers Front Office have chosen.
Nope, reaves cap hold was only 20.9 million. That means while they had cap space he was only on the books for 20.9 million, once they spent the cap space they officially signed hin to his new contract.
Unless the lakers were going to pay reaves less than 20 million, his new contract could not affect the amount of cap space they had.
Im more sad about smart
Because he’s not good unless he’s shooting 50% from deep.
Tres Leches
What I’ll be calling them all year if they start 3 white guys, I also like “milk time”
Snowtime is right there.
They’re just a trio of snow bunnies. 😍
Nuclear Winter has been my goto. 😄
I mean my understanding is that the original Showtime era had PLENTY of snow…👃
Snowtime is when we have the 5 whites running the floor.
Thats better, lol
Still sad, if they kept Shaquille oatmeal around, they could have given at least some run with
Luka
Reaves
Dalton
Avalia
Kessler
It is very likely we’ll have mamu and laravia on the court at some point
If? They are guaranteed to start 3 white guys.
They could start 4 or 5 so more would not fit. Too many leches
¿Seis leches? ¡En esta economía?!
Cuatro De Mayo?
Well if one gets hurt, I assume they wouldn’t start
We’ve been doing that since Dalton got drafted (when he was hot)
Better than the LaKKKers
“Tres Leches” is the popular fan-given nickname for the Indiana Fever trio consisting of Caitlin Clark, Sophie Cunningham, and Lexie Hull.
Man tres leches is so damn good
Fam tell me about it I’ll fight a grizzly bear for some
Already been done with the Indiana Fever
Triple stuffed (oreos)
the Too Clutch Klan
JJ also said “I call this the 3/5ths compromise”
Bravo
Dude 😭
Sounds fair
Nobody is topping this comment
Yup. That’s it. That’s the comment. The rest of us can go home.
Holy shit dude lmao
How is this not top comment yet. Absolutely goated. Bravo.
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Jesus christ we are so doomed if you had to google what the 3/5th compromise is to get the “reference.”
Lot of international NBA fans, I’m English and had no idea
It’s much much worse than you think it is nowadays if you think that’s bad.
I’m fairly sure not a lot outside US know about that reference
Didn’t you live thru that shit?
Dalton Knecht MVP run is dead.
Plot twist Luka is benched for Dalton
Luka 6MOTY run begins
I’ve been wanting a team to bring an MVP candidate off the bench to guarantee him 6MOTY and make a mockery of that ridiculous award for years.
Would be hilarious when they don’t win it
Remember when Curry was injured at the end of the season but for the start of the playoffs Kerr had him coming off the bench?
Was MVP+6moty been done before in a season?
28 off the bench would be magical
Overwatch sweat Luka Doncic being Redick’s chance to swap in 5 v 5 competitive
Yeah!!
The game’s gone
He had that one in the chamber
damn tho, i guess he’s really self conscious about the Lakers looking like a lacrosse team
Just a reminder that they were all exonerated and that the prosecutor was a piece of shit.
Underrated comment
this is dark.
Unlike a lacrosse team.
The Duke connect is what really elevates it to peak banter
Time to trade for Pat Spencer.
Or the Celtics of old.
First all black starting lineup and first black head coach in NBA history btw
Also the first team to draft a black player
You know what Bill Russell thinks about Boston? Ill spoil, its not good.
We need the jokes JJ.
Definitely responding to all the snowtime lakers memes
I love having JJ as a coach, not just because he’s good, but he is so good with comedic timing, and he does it with such a deadpan voice
It’s dry humor. Its effectiveness scales with age.
Mazzulla has to be an anomaly then lmao 🤣
The difference with Joe is that he isn’t joking.
Mazzulla is already an anomaly in more ways than one.
It sucks that my two favourite coaches are on the Lakers and Celtics.
Not sure what you see on here but I pretty much only see people saying they like Mazz, sometimes with a caveat that it’s too bad he’s the Celtics coach
Only you might be thinking people dislike Mazzulla
I think he’s close with Mazzula, so makes sense
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why does rob pelinka look like rob lowe
Brother you have put to words something I’ve seen about him but could never articulate myself
Its like he looks just like him but nothing like him at all. Rob Lowe from memory
Then you’ve missed many, many years of jokes about it.
I’ve always thought that. Literally first time was like “WTF? When did he become a GM?”
Always has.
Lit-erally
It’s just how all Rob’s look like
That’s Rob Lowe reprising his role as #2
same plastic surgeon probably
I’ve been saying this for years man, this comment makes me feel significantly less crazy
I was wondering why Rob Lowe was there the entire time I watched the clip and until I saw these comments
White… after labor day? Maris would have a fit.
They should serve vanilla ice cream at all home games
WE can say that YOU can’t say that
He’s one of us.
Nah he’s black he can say the other word
Oh he has
If Bonnie can say it, Jonathan can say it.
JJ’s got the pass?
Nah the 2026 accepted forms of bigotry at the moment are men and white people, unless it got patched
Nothing he said was racist against white people.
Also two of the top 5 players the entire decade have been white lol
Almost lost my eyeballs they rolled back so hard at this comment.
I’ve seen people say “White people can’t be racist because they ended slavery” lmfao
Facts though white people died so black people can be free
lol
Woe is you
White people are too competitive 😂
Damn bro I hope your ok
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Nah
Used to not believe this but I met the “minorities can’t be racist towards whites” people while I was in school
It depends on how you describe racism. But i’ll say this, in the US minorities cannot punch down on white people, which is why jokes are ok. Saying “kill all white people, even the women and children” is not ok lol
Systemic racism vs individual prejudice
It will be grimes-Laravia most likely, maybe Grimes-Mamu
Mamu’s best used off the bench because of his defensive issues. LaRavia’s average defensively, but that’s still better than Mamu.
Ya it’s a lose-lose
Why not keep Rui instead of signing Mamu?
Mamu is just a better all around player. They’re both good shooters and poor defenders, but Mamu drives better, moves the ball better, rebounds better, etc.
Until he disappears in the playoffs again. Don’t think he’s close to rui as a shooter
Don’t ask me
I don’t see Laravia starting. Think ziare might be a better option than him
Man, wish Rui was still there. He was on fire last post season and would still fit well with his 3pt and size.
But our problem is defense, and Rui would routinely make huge mistakes on that end.
Yeah can’t argue with you there. Just love Rui as a player though haha
LBJ would fit even better
Team of Wheat: The Los Angeles Quakers
I wonder if he gets shit for this. Was obviously said in jest.
It’s clearly a joke, but what if LaRavia and Mamu play great? Will he really avoid an all-White lineup just due to optics? I don’t really care, but I’m curious.
No way grimes loses the starting job. He has to be really bad for that to happen
He’ll have to prove his worth on defense but on offense he’s such a great fit next to Luka & AR
The Lakers brought Grimes in to be a 3&D style player. They expect him to be decent to good defensively
The lakers only have a couple defenders who are clearly better than him and they completely suck offensively
He’s only 6’5 and scoring minded, and ideally your SF is taller than 6’5
I agree, although he’s a guard, and they may want to tinker with their lineups since they already have two guards. I could see them trying a few different combinations.
And Grimes could get hurt (though hopefully not).
Luka ideally guards forwards on defense so 2 guards is fine.
Luka plays point forward and guards forwards..
He’s talking about the starting lineup, not avoiding that lineup at any point in the game.
Sure, but if Grimes misses some games with injury, I could see Mamu and LaRavia starting. Or even if they decide to start two forwards rather than three guards.
Edit: Also, if there’s a competition for the remaining two spots, why aren’t those guys part of that competition? If Grimes is guaranteed a spot, he could just say that.
I can see all these permutations and more. JJ will not be cognizant of avoiding the Snowtime lineup for the sake of meme avoidance.
Nah JJ ain’t about optics. He’s a basketball coach. He’s not gonna be thinking about what Jemele Hill and other small minds are gonna be thinking.
redditors will be fuming
Given people don’t seem to mind him using actual slurs I suspect he will weather the storm.
Jake LaRavia’s starting hopes just died. 😭
Quentin Grimes at the 3
Jarred Vanderbuilt at the 4
I think they’ll hope that Vanderbuilt can somehow work as a starter if he can hit threes from both corners (not just one), and the other 4 guys can spread the floor enough to compensate for him, including Kessler.
Vanderbuilt is going into a contract year too. Either he plays hard and can get a better contract than his player option, or he doesn’t see that for himself, and just waits out until he can exercise his player option, which may be the last NBA contract of his career.
Vando’s shooting isn’t even the main problem. It’s his lack of any type of scoring. He would be playable if he could finish consistently. If he can play off Luka/AR well as a cutter, I can see him starting
Vanderbilt is a minimum player with a $13+ million option. He is opting in 1000%.
Take that ESPN there might be 4 white guys in the starting lineup but not 5!
well ofc you cant start 120 people in a basketball game
Watch this back fire and two white guys and up starting. Dalton knecht here we go
The very first day he starts five white guys, this clip is going to be played and it’s going to be hilarious. I think we’re all waiting for that day.
I think the over under for opening night white lakers starters is 4.5
Nah it’s 3.5, grimes will 100% start. The 5th spot could be any of like 5 guys
Benching Luka is bold
Los Angeles “DEI” Lakers
Jared Kushner’s brother is now these guys’ boss
Pearl clutching comments y’all playing basketball is one of the most ethnically transparent experiences in American culture it’s literally all love, at its best all those dudes would bleed for each other.
I don’t see any pearl clutching except from no flair accounts that hide their comments
reddit is weird all the pearl clutching is at the top of the thread with 20 upvotes and the real comments with 100s/1000s of upvotes are below them. Because it priortises replies too I believe
LaRavia punching the wall
That guy is garbage 😂
Anti white racism strikes again
White on white crime
Damn, didn’t have to come at Pelinka’s outfit like that
Internalized racism
the Department of Justice is already drafting a subpeona
You will overcome someday.
It’s a joke
so is the comment you’re replying to
A racist one
Yeah because a white guy being racist to white guys is definitely a thing
Europe: am I a joke to you?
Im gonna be honest I thought this was the CJ sub and I was just leaning into the joke.
It’s Anti-Laravia discrimination
This felt more like a joke on the people that are obsessive about race. Which sadly is a very common theme with americans. Especially black americans.
JJ will 100% be at some point have 5 white players out there considering the talent of his roster. And who knows how those lineups do. Maybe they become common if players like LaRavia and Mamu improve.
There’s always gonna be optics due to race obsessive people and there’s gonna be jokes cause it’s uncommon. But JJ ain’t thinking about dumb stuff like that.
You think black americans are more obsessed with race than the race that enslaved them and mistreated them for years upon years? Interesting
What? That’s a horribly wrong thought process. You are talking about the developed vs the undeveloped. And it happened all over the world. It happened within continents and so on.
I’m talking thought process today. You don’t even have to try to notice it. It’s not a secret.
Yes black americans to this day are still viligante about race issues because they were fucking enslaved and there are still obvious signs of racism prevalent throughout American society. I see it on here daily.
In 2026 yes they are and it’s not really debatable
Should they not be? America has proven its racism against Black americans like no other race. Are black American supposed to forget the atrocities and pretend everything is just fine? They should just “move on” because it makes you uncomfortable? I couldn’t imagine knowing a race enslaved and terrorized an entire race for decades upon decades and then turning my ire to the victims who still havent recovered from such treatment. The definition of privilege and a gross lack of empathy.
Racist
Killing Snowtime Lakers before they even had a chance 😔
Vando should be in the starting lineup as they have enough offense and need defense
Would love to see a healthy Vando and I like that he has Luka’s back, I wonder if he could be one of those athletic Dallas wings Luka played so well with
He is a bit of a fouling machine, but he was really good in the starting lineup with AD, Bron, Rui and Reaves before he got injured again. He would fit this group
Vando is not a starter, every possession dies when the ball is swung to him.
Who else is even good enough and white to start? If they trade for giddey and Wagner maybe they could run the all white lineup
There’s a good chance Mamu is the starting 4.
Mamu is not starting at 4 for us. There is no wing defender to allow Mamu to play in the starting lineup.
Unless you are playing against double bug lineups, in which case it can work
The only one I can think of would be the wolves, if we are going with Antman and the wasp as the nickname for Ant and LaMelo. Or are there any other double bug lineups in the league?
This comment is so underrated
Cavs have Donovan ‘Spida’ Mitchell plus I bet Jarrett Allen has an ant farm
If Ant played with all white guys it could be Ant-Man and the WASPs
Rockets, current Jazz, Cavs, Thunder, current Grizzlies, Wizards, Heat.
Just to name a few teams.
Double bug eh?
Yeah and Lakers need him as a backup for Kessler. Unless the Lakers want extended minutes for Looney.
But Mamu is your third best player…
He literally just confirmed that’s not the case, like, in the post that you just read and commented on.
not really, he said it will not be two white dudes, but it could be a single
Plenty of incredible white talent in the league. Literally best player in the league been white for the last 5+ years. But that made a lot of people uncomfortable. It’s gonna be a messsss if Lakers dominate.
That Lakers whistle about to conveniently get a new name to boost victim narratives 😂
You will get lots of heat for that Jokic comment.
Not really. Even his biggest haters know that they look silly hating on a player that averages a 30 point triple double on a efficiency that even pure dunkers are jealous of.
It’s funny how he went from /r/nba ’s sweetheart to one of the most hated players here.
He isn’t hated.
He does do it all tho…maybe the most complete offensive player in the league right now.
TIL Shai is white.
OKC fans delusional
People have been suggesting Laravia may start, which I personally find stupid, and it has been speculated that Mamu would start at the four
Gotta find somebody with the white stuff.
Their already being called the laKKKers in some circles
Nah Luka will convince him to trade w/ Rockets for Bogdanovic.
Unfortunately Chet’s bitch ass would work well in that rotation
Mamu and LaRavia, maybe?
They’re bench guys tho I don’t see it
Mamu could absolutely start in the regular season. He actually fits really well with Kessler
Mamu started some games last year for the Raptors and had a good season.
LaRavia started about half the season for the Lakers.
Who do you definitely have above them? If there’s a competition for those spots, who are the people competing?
Ideally you want Luka guarding 4’s so a 3⁄4 wing stopper as opposed to a 4⁄5 big like Mamu would be ideal. Jake, Ziaire, Thybulle, Adou training camp battle
Grimes will start, he’s there to be the PoA defender so Reaves and Luka don’t have to
other spots will not be two white guys. it will be one white guy and another one white guy.
what’s wrong with having 5 white guys as starters? is there a rule preventing that?
how can society move forward, if racism is kept at the forefront of things such as a basketball teams STARTING LINEUP??
Rule 143.7.7.7 every team shall have one token black guy and a token Asian and/or lgbqtuvwx.
Pelinka dresses like pure dog shit
Some white dude is foaming at the mouth because he said that lmao
I mean I guess it’s funny in a har har kind of way, but as a general rule, thinking about, talking about, and seeing about the world in terms of white people this, black people that, asian people this - that shit is not great and only helps degrade our society. So I according to you I am a white dude foaming at the mouth (except I am a 41 y/o POC).
Racism is rampant
He can say whatever he wants, snowtime nickname is here to stay
Well its not quatro leches.
Cuatro*
I shall now remove all knowledge of my existence from the internet.
No need for that, what’s the world going to do when in need of some original silliness?
Madness
Looking at the roster I am assuming that Vanderbilt and Thiero are both expected to get some minutes at power forward. Mamu is probably backing up Kessler at center and getting minutes, maybe starting?, at power forward too. Laravia likely backs up small forward and power forward depending on the matchup. Barring injuries someone between Vanderbilt, Thiero and Laravia will not be getting regular minutes by the middle of the season.
I highly doubt Mamu is starting. Jake LaRavia is likely starting at the 4. He’s actually decent defensively and has size. Mamu leaves much to be desired defensively. He’s better suited as a stretch rotation guy who can shake things up off the bench. Luka/Reaves/Grimes/Jake/Kessler is my guess. 4 white guys.
You are probably correct. Hopefully Vando’s knee is doing better and he will regain some of his lateral quickness. He was a useful player 4 years ago.
Am I crazy or is this lineup historically bad on defense?
I wouldn’t say it’s good. I also wouldn’t say it’s historically bad. But I guess that remains to be seen. Grimes was a good POA defender on the Mavs. Effort is generally good. Navigates screens well. They also have Thybulle, Vanderbilt, and Zaire for limited minutes/situations. A lot falls on Kessler. He’s an elite rim protector who is going to be funneled to a lot but when he gets pulled out I imagine there’s going to be a good amount of seepage. If Kessler goes down and when he gets rotated they are really lacking size between Kevin Looney and Mamu. Looney has his strengths defensively though too.
Pete Hegseth enraged
It’s actually wild he said that. Imagine saying this in hockey but reversed. Shit would not fly
It’s not wild it’s a known double standard in our society
I mean weren’t people saying they would suck because of the amount of white guys on the roster?
Imagine saying this but afterwards he whips it out and pisses on the mic. Shit would not fly
If it was a black coach who said it, I feel like that would be hilarious tbh
I can already see the slurs black people would throw at that coach… people have received tons of shit for less
I think I would pay for front row tickets to see an all black hockey team. And I mean real black not Canadian black
I’m not Canadian or Black, but I’m pretty sure you just offended some Black Canadians.
And somehow they are apologizing.
So SGA or Lu dort aren’t real blacks ?
Did he stutter
And I mean real black not Canadian black
So, no Americans either? Born and raised in Africa, right?
Well of course it’d be different; there’s an entire history of Western civilization to explain why.
Should JJ Reddick be forced to make a statement and resign?
one white guy could get one of them
Is that comment funny?
Yes
Austin Reaves MVP run is dead.