‘Will Not Be White Guys’: JJ Redick Replies to Widespread Speculation Around the Lakers, Leaving Rob Pelinka Surprised

The Los Angeles Lakers took a head start before media day when two of its most prominent staffers revealed what the newly retooled roster would look like. Heading into his third season as head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, JJ Redick met with reporters alongside general manager Rob Pelinka for their annual joint preseason press conference. With training camp right around the corner, attention quickly turned to the composition of the starting unit following a summer of massive organizational turnover.

When asked about the open starting roles, Redick confirmed he already has a firm grasp of 60% of his first unit, with superstar guard Luka Doncic, shooting guard Austin Reaves, and newly acquired center Walker Kessler locking down three starting spots. However, Redick couldn’t resist poking fun at the online discourse surrounding the racial makeup of the team’s newly assembled 2026–27 roster, which features six white players and has been playfully dubbed the “Snowtime Lakers” by fans and media figures like former forward Matt Barnes.

“I’m pretty confident in three of the spots,” Redick quipped and put the mic down to give a second-long false sense of security. “The other two spots will not be two white guys. Those are the two things I’m confident.”

The lighthearted joke caught the room off guard, prompting laughter across the media corps. Rob Pelinka was both amused and surprised that he said that. He laughed along with the room, appearing genuinely caught off guard by the bluntness of Redick’s line as it landed amid the ongoing chatter about the roster’s makeup. The reporter who had been asking about the starting lineup tried to ask Pelinka his original question after laughing, but had to pause after Redick’s joke. “Sorry, I need to regroup. I’m shook.”

Redick’s humor highlighted the major shift currently underway in Southern California. The Lakers enter the 2026–27 campaign fully pivoting into the Luka Doncic era following the summer departures of LeBron James, Rui Hachimura, Deandre Ayton, Marcus Smart, and Luke Kennard.

To retool around Doncic and Reaves, Pelinka brought in defensive anchor Walker Kessler via trade, while signing and acquiring wing depth in Quentin Grimes, Matisse Thybulle, Collin Sexton, Ziaire Williams, and Sandro Mamukelashvili, alongside re-signing Reaves to a four-year extension and guaranteeing Bronny James his contract.

While Jake LaRavia, Mamukelashvili, and Dalton Knecht remain on the roster, Redick’s joke effectively confirms that no more than one of them will join Doncic, Reaves, and Kessler in the opening-night lineup.

Some who fantasized about Mamu’s breakout will have to temper expectations a bit. Redick emphasized that the remaining wing positions will be earned through intense, transparent competition throughout training camp.

“I think we’ve always tried to give our players clearly defined roles, and I think with this group, probably the first time in my three years here that I feel like the pieces actually fit together, and so those roles probably get even more crystallized,” Redick said. “I’ll give you the wings, like there’s a very clear ask for you to be able to play, and if you don’t do those things, then you’re not going to play. That’s just the reality.

“We’ve already had some of those conversations this week with our players. We have high, high confidence in these guys that they’re going to buy into that. So it’s going to naturally create a lot of healthy competition, and everybody at some point inevitably will get a chance to impact our team and impact winning.”

The presence of Kessler, in particular, gives the Lakers their most formidable rim protector since Anthony Davis, offering crucial interior defense to balance their perimeter firepower.

“I think first of all it starts with having that center in Walker,” Redick noted. “It’s why we valued him the way we valued him. I think we have great wing depth, and I’m really excited for camp to start next week and for us to go through the preseason process. There’s a lot of minutes, there’s starting spots that are up for grabs. I think we’re going to have a highly competitive camp.

“We’ve been in the gym in small-group workouts, and guys have been playing pickup for the last six weeks… To me, this has not been — and it never will be — a full rebuild around Luka in one offseason. That’s not the way the NBA works, and particularly with free agency the way it is now. But I like everything we did this summer to build around him, to build around A.R., and to provide us with a ton of depth.”

With candidates like Quentin Grimes, Matisse Thybulle, Ziaire Williams, and Jarred Vanderbilt vying for the remaining two starting positions, Redick’s new-look squad opens camp with high optimism and a clearly defined blueprint for the season ahead.

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