Cam Reddish's Former Coach Acknowledges Lakers' Success Where He Fell Short

Despite the fact the Los Angeles Lakers fans have been wanting the front office to sign Cam Reddish for quite some time when the team made it official in the 2023 NBA offseason, it was a coin toss whether or not the forward was going to be a good fit with the team.

Reddish is a young player who has failed to live up to the hype as he showed a lot of potential before making it to the NBA, where he hasn't gotten the opportunity to shine, until now.

One of the knocks on Reddish heading into this season was that he gave inconsistent effort on the defensive end, only focusing on the other side of the ball. But with the Lakers, that hasn’t been the case as head coach Darvin Ham has gotten him to buy in and become the team’s primary guard defender, where he has thrived.

That effort is not lost on his former head coach Tom Thibodeau, who praised Reddish before the Lakers hosted the Knicks on Monday night. “He’s played well,” Thibodeau said about his former player. “The first thing is to embrace the role, and I think he’s done a really good job for them.” Where Tom failed to get the best out of Cam, coach Darvin Ham and the Lakers group have been able to push him to his best.

Cam Reddish's defensive skills have helped the Lakers to stay afloat in the season

Reddish has undoubtedly embraced the role of defensive stopper within the Lakers starting lineup. Impressive quickness for his size has allowed him to bother opposing guards. Reddish’s 1.5 steals per game are tied for the team lead and represent a career-high. Reddish has not allowed shooting struggles to affect his effort on defense, which has been key to his success.