“Neurotic” JJ Redick begs NBA to switch to basketball

The balls are too flat. The balls are too tight. The balls are also… new?

Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick, who had just earned his first career coaching win against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday night, wasted no time in voicing his criticism.

“I will be submitting a request (Wednesday) for the league to allow us to play with worn basketballs (in the future),” Redick said. “I'm absolutely serious – I'm not sure why we're playing with brand new basketballs in real games.”

“Do you think I’m kidding?” Redick, 40, asked. “I’m neurotic.”

The former player, podcaster and analyst and current head coach's digression with the bad ball was immediately preceded by an examination of the Lakers' 3-point deficiency.

LeBron James, his son Bronny James, Anthony Davis and company hit just 5 of 30 on their 3-point attempts, but still managed to eke out a 110-103 win.

“We looked great and there were even a few wide open threes in the second half,” Redick said. “We just couldn’t knock them down.”

Luckily for Redick and the Lakers, the mishaps behind the arc were neither a headline nor a highlight, but just a footnote in the story of a historic night: For the first time ever, a father-son duo shared an NBA court.

Still, Redick thought the ball's novelty was worthy of discussion.

It's worth noting that the Timberwolves shot 31.7 percent from three, almost double the Lakers' mark of 16.7.

“Anyone who has ever touched a brand-new NBA ball knows that it feels and feels different than a worn-out basketball…Give guys the opportunity to pick a good basketball,” Redick said.

In his first appearance for Minnesota, former Knicks star Julius Randle played more than 34 minutes and collected 16 points, nine rebounds and four assists.

Donte DiVincenzo came off the bench, made 2 of 8 3-point attempts and finished the contest with 10 points, three assists and two steals.