On Monday, JJ Redick was presented as the next coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. The former NBA TV commentator and podcast host wasted no time addressing the most noticeable gap in his resume.
“I have never coached in the NBA before,” Redick remarked. “I don’t know if you guys have heard that.”
Redick, whose first day on the job coincided with his 40th birthday, will retire after a 15-year playing career in 2021. After playing at Duke University and making the 20th-most 3-pointers in NBA history, he remained involved in basketball via different media sources, including co-hosting the “Mind the Game” podcast with LeBron James and announcing the NBA Finals.
In response, Rob Pelinka, VP of basketball operations and general manager of the Los Angeles Lakers, declared that “NBA head-coaching experience and NBA experience aren’t mutually exclusive things,” and lauded the former shooting guard for his ability to bring innovation to the bench and the team as a whole.
Sitting next to Redick at the press conference, Pelinka said, “I think in the industry in general and in sports in particular, sometimes it’s easy to get caught up in patterns of being in a sea of sameness and doing the same thing that everybody else is doing.” So said Redick. “But when we started this hunt, we really wanted to explore if we could do anything new. And it was clear from our interactions with JJ that he had a unique viewpoint and philosophy on basketball and how it should be taught.”
Redick signed a four-year deal last week, according to a report.
Wojnarowski reports that between the second and third games of the finals, the Lakers offered University of Connecticut men’s basketball coach Dan Hurley a six-year, $70 million contract. However, Hurley declined the offer, citing talks between Redick and Pelinka over the post.
“During that whole courtship of Hurley, at no point was my ego or feelings hurt or bruised in any way,” he said. “Dan Hurley is a two-time national champion for UConn. I have two 55 Swish League championships in the third and fourth grades. Like, I understood, you know? “I understand.”
After meeting with James Borrego, Sam Cassell, David Adelman, Micah Nori, and Sam Cassell of the Boston Celtics, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Denver Nuggets, respectively, the Lakers resumed their search for a new head coach and turned their attention back to Redick, whom Pelinka had previously stated was always part of the team’s “Plan A pool” of prospects.
Rick Carlisle “planted the seed” for Redick to consider coaching when he was the Dallas Mavericks’ coach. After interviewing for a coaching position with the Toronto Raptors in May 2023, Redick became fully committed to the idea. In 2022, his production company inked a multimillion-dollar distribution deal with Wondery and Amazon Music for his “Old Man and the Three” podcast.
“It was really after I interviewed for the Toronto job last year that I knew that I wanted to be a head coach in the NBA,” Redick said. “so the last year, I spent a lot of time talking to coaches, talking with GMs, picking their brains. … I just felt like this is what I’m supposed to be doing.”
His podcast with James, which began in late March, will be discontinued.
“For the time being, and hopefully it’s a very, very long time, I am excommunicated from the content space,” Redick informed us. “So there will be no podcast. … I’m done with podcasting for now.”
The 39-year-old James, whom Redick referred to as a “friend,” kept his distance throughout the conversation.
“He didn’t give any advice,” Redick said. “LeBron and I did not discuss the Lakers job until Thursday afternoon, roughly 30 minutes after I was given the position. And it was extremely deliberate on both of our sides.”
James has until June 29 to opt into the last year of his deal with the Lakers or become an unrestricted free agency. According to insiders, Los Angeles is dedicated to re-signing James and would give him the maximum three-year contract for which he is entitled to complete his 24th season in the league.
Pelinka said that James was “supportive” of the Lakers’ search but opted not to be substantially engaged. According to Pelinka, Lakers center Anthony Davis opted to be highly active and was “very excited” about Redick’s hiring.
In terms of how Redick plans to teach L.A.’s two stars, he said that he intends to have Ja, — who just hit a career-high 41% outside the arc — shoot more threes and Davis manage more of the offense.
“One of the things I brought up with him is just the idea of him as a hub,” he added. “There are a lot of players at the 5 position in the NBA that operate like that. I’m not sure whether he’s been exploited in that manner to the fullest extent of his ability.
Neither Davis nor James attended Redick’s introduction press conference, but a few Lakers players did, including Spencer Dinwiddie, Gabe Vincent, Christian Wood, Colin Castleton, and Maxwell Lewis.
Redick stated that it would be the strength of their group, not just Davis and James, that would propel the Lakers back to a position where they could add to their 17 titles, citing the success of the Boston Celtics, Minnesota Timberwolves, Dallas Mavericks, and Indiana Pacers in the postseason this spring.
Even though the Lakers are coming off a season in which they were the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference and fell in five games to the Denver Nuggets in the first round, Redick said that championship hopes for the next season are justified.
“I don’t look at the current roster as being that far off from a championship-caliber team,” the coach said.
After addressing his lack of coaching experience before any reporters questioned it, Redick was asked if there were any “misconceptions” about him that he had spotted in coverage of his campaign and wanted to clear up.
“I really don’t give an f—,” Redick said. “Honestly, I want to coach the Lakers. I want to coach the squad. I don’t want to debunk anything. I want to be a great NBA coach. And I want to win titles. And I want my guys to make the most of their careers. “That’s all I care about.”
