Luka Dončić gifts Lakers head coach J.J. Redick $5,000 jacket

Ordinarily, a matchup between the Los Angeles Lakers and LA Clippers would provide enough drama and theater for the nearly 30,000 fans in attendance, but the real theater unfolded in head coach J.J. Redick’s office prior to tipoff. 

Before we get into that, let’s flashback to a week earlier, when we wrote about a viral clip that caught head coach J. J. Redick teasing his superstar, Luka Dončić, about a sideline fit that looked straight off a Milan runway. “What kind of jacket is that?” Redick asked, half smirk, half scouting report. Luka didn’t blink. “It’s a jacket. You don’t know anything about style.”

Redick was trying to insist that Dončić’s jacket was a blouson jacket. Luka insisted, “it’s just a jacket.” 

Touché.

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But on Friday, the debate continued and Dončić had delivered the punchline. He gifted Redick the exact same piece — prompting the coach to immediately ask, “Is it the grey one?” What followed was round two of the Great Jacket Debate. Redick insisted it was a blouson. Luka fired back: “It’s just a jacket.”

So we did what any responsible newsroom would do. We went to the source. On the Dior website, the verdict is clear: blouson jacket.

One hundred percent lambskin. Nearly $5,000. Redick was right. Debate settled. The definition — a waist-cinched silhouette that blouses over the beltline — traces back to mid-century military uniforms. Leave it to a Duke alum to win on technicalities.

The Lakers posted the clip to their social media, but the larger point is that everything seems to be good between coach and player inside the Lakers locker room. A superstar comfortable enough to clap back at his coach. And a coach secure enough to laugh — and wear it.

In a season built on expectations and ego, the Lakers may have found something far more valuable than couture, and it’s not just impeccable taste in clothes.