Lakers Training Camp Notebook: Obsession is the motto for the team

LOS ANGELES — It’s the second year of JJ Redick’s tenure as Lakers head coach, and as much as things changed, a lot remained the same. The Lakers still have two titans of basketball, but it’s no longer LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Now, it’s LeBron and Luka Dončić.

Los Angeles didn’t have a DJ blasting music like last year either, but the energy was still high inside the UCLA Health and Training Center as returning players like Austin Reaves and Gabe Vincent built off of last season and new blood like Deandre Ayton and Marcus Smart worked to get integrated and make an impact right away.

“This is where you get in the lab and get it out of your system,” Ayton said after practice. “Watch film and get closer to your teammates and work on your conditioning. Just being available and knowing the task ahead and what the coaches want for the season.”

Obsession is Lakers

What coaches will want from the 2025-26 Lakers will be an ever-evolving list of tasks, but the word they want attached to that process is obsession.

“Rob [Pelinka] has a word of the season, a word of training camp every year,” Redick said. “Last year was details, this year is obsession. Obviously, you saw the shirt, you know that the one eight was part of that, which that’s what we’re all after. We’re all after that 18th banner.

“I think understanding the priorities of the job and being obsessed with those, committed to those on a daily basis, that’s what determines great players. That’s what determines great teams.”

Hearing the Lakers align themselves with the ‘obsession’ mantra reminds us that it was a phrase Kobe used in his BodyArmor commercials. He helped launch a campaign titled “Obsession is natural” and even did the voiceover for the advertisement.

With Redick driving that mantra home during training camp, Ayton is on board with the program here in Los Angeles.

“I’m obsessed about my craft being better and, just bringing the best contribution to the team,” Ayton said. “Holding my end of the bargain. Putting work in where there’s no questions asked really. Walking in the building and just setting the tone, being a great teammate, just being coachable.”

If Ayton’s comments can match his play this year, the Lakers will not only have found their starting center but will have one of the better acquisitions of the summer.

Early offense action

Speed is the name of the game in the modern NBA. If you can dictate the pace of the game to your liking, you’ll be the dominant team and things are more likely to go your way.

Redick mentioned wanting to improve the team’s pace last year during the playoffs, and as training camp begins, it’s an emphasis for him to get into the offensive actions as quickly as possible.

“In terms of the early offense, you certainly have to be in shape,” Redick said. “There has to be communication, our habits, part of that is execution. I think it’s execution of spacing. Execution of knowing what we’re trying to get on a possession and you have to be in shape to recognize all those things in real time.”

Redick didn’t delve into the Xs and Os aspect of the offense, but this early in the year, it makes sense that he focused on the fitness part first. If the players aren’t in top shape, they won’t be able to run and push like he wants anyway.

Establishing this now and implementing the conditioning will be fundamental to creating sustainability for the Lakers. Once preseason begins, we’ll get some early returns on how this actually looks against NBA competition.

Adou Thiero update

One player we are unlikely to see in preseason action is Adou Thiero, who is currently out due to knee swelling. Thiero mentioned the swelling during media day, but after practice, Redick revealed that the Lakers rookie had surgery on the knee and is in the process of ramping up.

“We’ve just got to manage him coming off of the knee surgery,” Redick said. “To be quite frank with you, he was not our player when he had the surgery. And so, we did not have control of what he did three months after the surgery. So it’s really just about…playing the long game. We look at this year for him as a developmental year, and there’s no reason for us to sort of push his body and create any sort of long-term harm.”

He also stated this was a developmental season for the rookie. So, you can cool down your expectations of his return and what he can do for the Lakers until he is cleared to play.

Notes and injury updates

• Other Lakers players who didn’t participate in practice on Tuesday included LeBron, Gabe Vincent and Marcus Smart, who are all in return-to-play protocols.
• LeBron is obvioulsy the biggest name and he’s out as part of a bigger plan to be “overly cautious” with him during the preseason. He is currently dealing with nerve irritation in his glute.
• Vincent is expected to return by the end of the week, and Redick anticipates him being available for the preseason game this Friday.
• Smart is dealing with Achilles tendinopathy and should be ready next week.

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