After UConn basketball head coach Dan Hurley rejected the Los Angeles Lakers' offer, it's looking more and more likely that the job is going to JJ Redick.
Redick was previously the favorite to land the Lakers' head coaching role, but in a shocking turn of events, it was reported that the Purple and Gold were actually chasing for Hurley to take over after Darvin Ham's exit. In fact, LA offered Hurley a six-year, $70 million deal on order to pry him away from the Huskies.
As mentioned, Hurley decided not to leave his role with the Huskies ahead of a season in which they will attempt to make history with a three-peat. It forced the Lakers to go back to searching mode, with both Borrego and Redick–two candidates they were reportedly interested in before the Hurley saga–being mentioned as the top candidates.
Lakers job is JJ Redick's to lose
More recently, though, the buzz surrounding the Lakers is that they are eyeing Redick to become their head coach. Redick is set to interview with the franchise this weekend, with a strong performance expected to push him at the front for the role.
The betting odds also favor Redick to land the job at -500, with James Borrego and Sam Cassell behind him.
Now, the belief that Redick will become the Lakers' next coach got some added boost after NBA insider Marc Stein revealed in his latest report that the 15-year NBA vet is his to lose.
“JJ Redick would appear (stress: appear) to have reclaimed his previous standing as the favorite to land the Los Angeles Lakers’ coaching job — assuming he wants it — in the wake of Dan Hurley’s decision to stay at UConn. As one source close to the process put it to me Friday: “You know who is getting the job,” Stein wrote on Substack.
JJ Redick auditioning for Lakers job for a long time now?
For what it's worth, while there are some questions whether or not Redick is the right man for the job considering his lack of experience as head coach, NBA insider Brian Windhorst offered a rather unique perspective why the former Duke standout is now the frontrunner for the role.
As many fans would know, Redick started a podcast with Lakers star LeBron James where they talk about basketball strategies and break down plays using their high-level IQ. According to Windhorst, the podcast is really Redick's interview–or audition tape, really–for the role.
“Anytime you hire a first time head coach, you're admitting that you're going to go through a learning curve… Frankly, [JJ Redick's] interviews have been in those podcasts with LeBron James. They've extensively broken down the Lakers' offense, extensively broken down what they do. It's been out there for the whole world to hear, including from the Lakers front office,” Windhorst said on ESPN.
The Lakers have yet to make a decision. But true enough, after what happened with the Hurley situation, it's hard to really believe any reporting now about the LA role until something is really decided.
Furthermore, it's still unknown if Redick will actually want the Lakers job or not. He has established quite the good reputation as an analyst and broadcaster, but as everyone knows, coaching an NBA team is a whole different beast. Not to mention that since Redick has no pro coaching experience before, the Lakers job could be too overwhelming or big.
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