Skip to main content
Ben Royer

Ben Royer

Los Angeles Lakers beat reporter for the Orange County Register and Southern California News Group.

Aug 24, 2026

19:08
So when you talk about working alongside or working with or talking to a former player turned coach who is so entrenched and are enthralled by the work, the film aspect of being a coach, and then seeing it play out in his ATO, seeing it play out in his work with his players, right? I think it's interesting because I don't know necessarily if JJ Redick is a similar coach to Kenny Atkinson, because Kenny Atkinson for the Cavs is so philosophically enthused, while JJ Redick is, "I'm gonna go to watch it, go put the work in and figure it out and adjust on the fly based on that, or based on what, whatever the results tell me." What have you learned, what have you seen when it comes to JJ Redick and obviously your first year on the beat, but how he's growing as a coach throughout this entire process and obviously, as we've talked about at length on this podcast already, just being in Los Angeles and having that pressure placed on you, on top of having to coach two of the best players, maybe the best player of all time in LeBron James, and Luka Dončić, one of the best players in the league right now, to then be in competition to win a championship as well.
20:17
Yeah.
20:17
It's, it's an interesting i- idea.
20:19
It's so funny to me being a young guy on a beat and three of the people that I cover the Lakers with day in and day out cover JJ Redick when he was on the Clippers, and was around him a lot as a player.
20:29
And, and I think it's so interesting how their relationships have evolved as reporter to player to now reporter to coach.
20:36
It's just such a fascinating landscape in how things change over years.
20:41
I think one thing that I've been really impressed with JJ, and I think this is something he's quickly learning is, is how to get the best out of his players.

6 MINS LATER

26:44
So Ben, for people [laughs] who haven't been following this closely, can you explain exactly what is going on, what is happening with the Buss family right now?

We value your privacy

We use cookies to understand how you use our platform and to improve your experience. Click “Accept All” to consent, or “Decline non-essential” to opt out of non-essential cookies. Read our Privacy Policy.