JJ Redick admits inexperience, shares vision for Lakers

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. – JJ Redick was introduced as coach of the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday, and the recent podcast host and NBA television analyst immediately addressed the most glaring omission on his resume.

“I’ve never coached in the NBA before,” Redick said. “I don’t know if you guys heard this or not.”

Reddick, whose first day on the job coincided with his 40th birthday, retired from a 15-year playing career in 2021. After starring at Duke University and scoring the 20th most 3-pointers in NBA history, he remained involved with basketball through various means. Media outlets, including co-hosting the podcast “Mind the Game” with LeBron James and calling the NBA Finals for ESPN and ABC.

Rob Pelinka, the Lakers’ vice president of basketball operations and general manager, countered by saying that “NBA head-coaching experience and NBA experience are not mutually exclusive things,” and praised the former shooting guard as someone who can be innovative. , and not just on the sidelines. , but in shaping the entire organization.

“I think in the industry in general and in sports in particular, sometimes it’s easy to live in a sea of ​​sameness and do the same thing that everyone else is doing,” said Pelinka, who was next to Redick during this time. I was sitting. News conference. “But when we started this search, it was really important for us to see if we could do something different. And in our conversations with JJ, it was very clear that he had a unique perspective and philosophy on basketball And how it should be taught.”

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Redick agreed to a four-year contract last week.

Between Games 2 and 3 of the Finals, University of Connecticut men’s basketball coach Dan Hurley turned down the Lakers’ six-year, $70 million offer; according to Wojnarowski, Redick was already involved in discussions with Pelinka about the position. .

“Throughout that entire (courtship of Hurley), at no time was my ego or feelings bruised or hurt,” Redick said. “Dan Hurley is a two-time national champion at UConn. I’m a two-time 55 Swish League champion in the third and fourth division divisions. Like, I get it, you know? I get it.”

The Lakers also personally interviewed James Borrego and discussed the job opening with Sam Cassel of the Boston Celtics, David Edelman of the Denver Nuggets and Micah Nouri of the Minnesota Timberwolves, shifting their search back to Redick – about whom Pelinka said he was always in the team’s “Plan A pool” of candidates.

Reddick, whose production company signed a multimillion-dollar distribution deal with Wondery and Amazon Music for his “Old Man and the Three” podcast through 2022, said his former coach with the Dallas Mavericks, Rick Carlisle, asked him to consider coaching. He “planted the seed” and became fully committed to the idea after interviewing with the Toronto Raptors for the coaching position in May 2023.

“Really after interviewing for the Toronto job last year I knew I wanted to be a head coach in the NBA,” Redick said. “And so last year, I spent a lot of time talking to coaches, talking to GMs, getting their brains. … I just felt like this was what I needed to do.”

His podcast with James, which debuted in late March, will be discontinued.

“Right now, and hopefully this is a very, very long time, I’ve been ostracized from the content area,” Reddick said. “So there will be no podcast…I’m done with podcasting for now.”

James, 39, whom Redick called “a friend,” maintained his distance during the interview process.

“He didn’t give any advice,” Reddick said. “LeBron and I didn’t talk about the Lakers job until Thursday afternoon, about 30 minutes after the job was offered. And that was very intentional on both of our sides.”

James has until June 29 to opt into the final year of his contract with the Lakers or become an unrestricted free agent. Sources told ESPN that L.A. is committed to re-signing James and will offer the maximum three-year deal James is eligible for, taking him into his 24th season in the league.

Pelinka said James was “supportive” of the Lakers’ pursuit but “he decided not to get heavily involved in it.” According to Pelinka, Lakers center Anthony Davis “decided to get very involved”, and was “very excited” about Redick’s appointment.

As for how Redick will coach L.A.’s two stars, he said his plan is to keep James — coming off a season in which he shot a career-best 41% from beyond the arc — shooting more 3s. And to give Davis more control of the offense.

“One of the things I brought with him is his idea of ​​us as a hub,” Reddick said. “There’s a bunch of guys in the NBA that work at the fifth position that way. I don’t know that they’ve been utilized that way and maximized all of their abilities.”

Neither Davis or James were present for Redick’s introductory news conference, although a handful of Lakers players were, including Spencer Dinwiddie, Gabe Vincent, Christian Wood, Colin Castleton and Maxwell Lewis.

Redick said it won’t just be Davis and James who will get the Lakers back to the point where they can add to their 17 titles, but also the strength of their group — pointing to the success of the Boston Celtics, Minnesota Timberwolves, Dallas Mavericks. And the Indiana Pacers performed well in the postseason this spring.

Redick said championship expectations for the Lakers next season are “reasonable”, despite the team coming off of a campaign in which it finished as the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference and fell by five to the Denver Nuggets in the first round. Lost the game.

“I don’t see the current roster being too far away from a championship-caliber team,” he said.

After learning about his lack of coaching experience before any reporters raised questions, Redick was asked if there were any “misunderstandings” about him that he had seen in coverage of his candidacy that he wanted to clear up.

“I’m not really complaining,” Redick said. “To be honest, I want to coach the Lakers. I want to coach the team. I don’t want to lose anything. I want to be a great coach in the NBA. And I want to win championships. And I want “That my players maximize their careers, that’s all I care about.”