The Los Angeles Lakers are hoping their change in leadership yields an improved showing during the 2024-25 season. The Lakers hired former player and analyst JJ Redick as their new head coach following Darvin Ham's departure. Redick seeks to build a staff that will help him and Los Angeles get over the hump and one assistant on his radar is Anthony Davis' former New Orleans Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry.

Los Angeles reportedly holds interest in adding Gentry to their coaching staff, per Brad Turner.

Alvin Gentry has over 30 years of coaching experience in various NBA roles. In 2015, he became the head coach of the Pelicans and played an important role in helping Anthony Davis continue his professional development.

Gentry went 175-225 during his five-season tenure with New Orleans. He left with the second-most wins in franchise history behind Byron Scott. In addition, Gentry was the only Pelicans coach with a winning postseason record (5-4).

Gentry's time with New Orleans was greatly enhanced by Anthony Davis, who spent the first seven years of his career with the franchise. Davis saw some of the best offensive production under Gentry from 2016 to 2018. During the 2016-17 season, Davis improved to 28.0 points per game after averaging 24.3 a season prior. Then, the star forward hit a career-high of 28.1 points per contest and shot 34.0 percent on three-pointers in 2017-18.

Alvin Gentry's Pelicans teams were offensively efficient. His extensive experience could aid JJ Redick and help take the Lakers to the next level.

Lakers look to make jump in 2024-25

Los Angeles ended the 2024-25 season with a 47-35 record, which placed them seventh in the Western Conference standings. As a result, they were forced to make the NBA Playoffs through the Play-In tournament. After beating the New Orleans Pelicans, the Lakers secured their seventh seed and faced the former reigning champion Denver Nuggets. However, LA lost in five games, which ended their run early.

Shortly after, the Lakers parted ways with Darvin Ham, who joined the team in 2022. LA is now led by  JJ Redick. The former sharpshooter has an important connection on the team: LeBron James. James and Redick co-hosted a podcast called “Mind the Game” where viewers can dive into their high-IQ basketball minds.

Speaking of which, if there is one thing Redick offers at an elite level, it is his knowledge of the game. Redick has over 19 years of NBA experience and was one of the best three-point shooters in the league. In addition, he has served as a sports broadcaster breaking down various basketball angles.

His experience as a player and analyst would serve the Lakers well. However, his lack of coaching experience is a glaring concern. UConn women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma gave an intriguing take that was seemingly aimed at Redick during the time of Dan Hurley's consideration for the Lakers job.

“You know this is really funny because I happened to be at a thing with him [the night before news of his consideration blew up]. And I have no idea what's going on, where [his Lakers coaching candidacy is at]. But I just leaned over and said, ‘I think you could win a lot of championships with the Lakers, more so than a guy who's never coached,” Auriemma said, via the Dan Patrick Show.

Despite the doubts, Redick wants to prove that he and the Lakers have what it takes to be successful during the 2024-25 season.