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On Monday, it was reported by Shams Charania of Stadium and The Athletic that the Los Angeles Lakers were “zeroing in” on former NBA sharpshooter JJ Redick to be the franchise's next head coach following the dismissal of Darvin Ham earlier this offseason. Redick does not have any coaching experience but does have an immense knowledge of the game that he frequently shares with others through the media, including his “Mind The Game” podcast with none other than Lakers superstar LeBron James himself.
On a recent episode of the podcast, recorded before the Redick to Los Angeles news broke, James and Redick broke down the upcoming NBA Finals matchup between the Boston Celtics and the Dallas Mavericks, and more specifically, how the Celtics might go about trying to contain the offensive mastermind that is Mavericks star Luka Doncic.
“By the numbers, I would say blitz,” said James when asked what the most effective defensive strategy is against Doncic, via ClutchPoints on X, the social media platform formerly referred to as Twitter. “And the reason I say blitz is because I look at the other two, and it's not switching, because they don't run many small-small pick and rolls. They run a lot of one-five pick and rolls, because the five is usually not as mobile, not as agile. So they try to bring the five up, and they have those two lob threats, which Luka loves. So I know that switching is not it. We saw that at the end of Game 2 in the Western Conference Finals.”
Indeed, in Game 2 of last series, the Minnesota Timberwolves tried switching Rudy Gobert onto Doncic on the last defensive possession of the game, and even the Defensive Player of the Year was unable to effectively stay in front of Doncic, especially considering the MVP candidate was allowed to take four steps on the play.
The Celtics in theory would figure to have arguably the best lineup in the NBA both overall and when it comes to stopping a player like Doncic to their all-defensive backcourt of Jrue Holiday and Derrick White, as well as their size on the wings with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
Will JJ Redick and the Lakers mesh?
It will be interesting to see how many losses it takes before the notoriously impatient Lakers fanbase begins sending threats in Redick's direction, as they have been documented doing to several new players and coaches over the years.
Listening to Redick talk about basketball makes it obvious that the former sharpshooter knows a thing or two about the nuances of the game, especially the modernized, three-point heavy version of it that we've come to see today. However, it takes a certain type of personality to effectively mesh with a transcendent talent like James, one who is willing to both defer to James' greatness on certain occasions while also not being afraid to call him out if need be.
In any case, the Lakers were clearly in need of a shakeup after the Darvin Ham debacle, and it seems that they'll be tying their future to Redick going forward.
