LOS ANGELES – JJ Redick reached several significant marks following the Los Angeles Lakers’ 127-113 win against the Cleveland Cavaliers. He notched his 100th career coaching win, and in the process the Lakers’ secured back-to-back seasons of 50+ wins. That also put Redick in rarefied air as only the fourth coach in Lakers’ history to have won at least 50 games in his first two seasons. He also became the first Lakers coach since Phil Jackson to lead the franchise to back-to-back seasons of 50+ wins in general.
But Redick’s hiring wasn’t without skepticism and questions. Without any previous coaching experience, there were some within in the NBA media circle, and amongst fans, that were on the fence about the hire. However, it wasn’t like Redick had absolutely zero background in coaching. In fact, it was a mentality that was instilled in his upbringing that ultimately led to him wanting to become an NBA head coach.
“I maybe never had the title of coach, but my dad … was a potter, an artist. My parents were hippies, grew up in the sticks, first in Tennessee and then in Virginia. At some point, as our family grew, we needed to make more money and so he became a counselor and eventually both he and my mom became life coaches,” Redick said following the Lakers’ win. “And or most of the entirety that I played basketball, that’s how I’ve operated, with that mindset to help people, to coach people.”
Redick’s final season in the NBA was in 2020-21, when he split time between the New Orleans Pelicans and the Dallas Mavericks. He was teammates with current Lakers players Jaxson Hayes (Pelicans) and Luka Doncic (Mavericks) during that season.
And it was during that time, and the couple of seasons before with the Pelicans and the Philadelphia 76ers, that he really started taking on a veteran leader role with each locker room he was in. He didn’t play much as much in that final year, appearing in a total of 44 games at a little over 18 minutes. His value was more so his importance off the court.
“As I got older in the NBA, I took a great deal of joy and pride in helping my young guys in Philly, helping my young guys in New Orleans. And I didn’t realize that I was doing it at the time, probably because like all athletes, you’re so invested in what you’re doing and your career,” Redick said. “But it’s just a natural extension of how I was raised by my parents.”
Although Redick’s lack of experience might have given some a reason to pause, the Lakers were far from the only team that expressed interest in him for a head coaching role. A year before Redick even interviewed for the Lakers, he was a candidate for the Toronto Raptors head coaching job. Nick Nurse had just been fired from his position, and the Raptors eventually chose Darko Rajakovic for the job.
The year he was hired by the Lakers, the Charlotte Hornets also had interest in Redick before pivoting to Charles Lee. Clearly there was a level of interest from teams for a couple of seasons suggesting his lack of experience wasn’t a deal breaker.
And for Redick, as soon as he walked out of his first interview, he knew this was his post-retirement calling.
“I knew when I interviewed for the Toronto Raptors job in 2023,” Redick recalled. “I left Toronto and I said, ‘I want to be an NBA coach.’ So it was an obsession of mine for a full year and a half before I got the job.
