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JJ Redick Says Lakers Starting Lineup Will Not Be All White
Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick used his annual news conference to address the viral 'Snowtime' nickname for his projected roster, saying two starting spots will not be filled by white players while also suggesting the team has a clearer identity since LeBron James left for Philadelphia.
Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick addressed one of the stranger storylines of the NBA offseason during his annual news conference, telling reporters that his starting lineup will not consist entirely of white players. The remark was a direct response to «Snowtime», a nickname that has trended across social media as a tongue-in-cheek label for the Lakers' projected core of Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves and Walker Kessler, with depth pieces like Dalton Knecht and Maxi Kleber also mentioned in the online joke.
Redick, entering his third season at the helm in Los Angeles, said he was confident about three of the five starting spots before adding that the remaining two «will not be two white guys.» The comment was widely read as a sarcastic acknowledgment of the internet gag rather than a serious basketball statement, and it quickly became the most discussed moment of an otherwise routine preseason availability.
The news conference also produced a pointed assessment of how the roster has changed since LeBron James departed in free agency for the Philadelphia 76ers. Redick said the current group has a clearer identity than past squads, arguing that defined roles have finally come together. «I think we've always tried to give our players clearly defined roles, and I think with this group, it's probably the first time in my three years here that I feel like the pieces actually fit together,» Redick said. «And so those roles probably get even more crystallized.»
James and Redick share a recent professional history that makes the comparison notable. In 2024, the two teamed up to co-host «Mind the Game», a basketball podcast focused on strategy and X's-and-O's analysis. After two seasons together in Los Angeles, that dynamic ended when James left for Philadelphia, leaving Redick to run the Lakers solo. James' move to the 76ers has already drawn reactions from Philadelphia athletes, including new teammates who welcomed him to the city.
On the court, Redick's tenure has yet to produce a deep playoff run. His squad was swept in the Western Conference semifinals by Oklahoma City last spring, following a first-round exit against the Minnesota Timberwolves in his inaugural season. Before moving to the bench, Redick spent 15 years as an NBA sharpshooter, a career that informed the analytical approach he has brought to coaching.
The «Snowtime» phenomenon reflects a broader conversation about the Lakers' projected rotation, which is unusual in a league where roster construction is often discussed through the lens of star power rather than racial composition. The nickname gained traction because the team's projected top talent is not Black, turning an ordinary depth chart into an online talking point that followed Redick into his press conference.
Redick's decision to engage with the joke rather than dismiss it fits a pattern of a coach who has been comfortable speaking in the informal register of social media. Whether that approach helps or complicates his third season in Los Angeles will depend on how a reshaped roster performs in a Western Conference that remains crowded with contenders.
For now, the Lakers enter the season with a new identity on paper and a coach promising that the pieces fit together better than they have during his tenure. The starting lineup question, at least, has been answered in the most literal terms possible.
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