It shouldn't come as a huge surprise to anyone who has long followed the National Basketball Association that much of what the Los Angeles Lakers have done in the very early stages of the 2024 offseason has come under fire. Their failed pursuit of UConn coach Dan Hurley drew skepticism from both pro and college basketball fans, and their selection of Bronny James in the 2nd Round of the 2024 NBA Draft resulted in claims of nepotism. However, the decision that general manager Rob Pelinka and owner Jeanie Buss seem to be catching the most heat for is their hiring of JJ Redick to be their next head coach.
There are two things that most naysayers of JJ Redick's hiring seem to be pointing out — not that Redick gives a f*** about what they have to say anyway. First, his relationship as a podcast co-host with Lakers star LeBron James, who is expected to re-sign with LA after opting out of the final year of his deal today. And second, Redick has no coaching experience on his resume other than a season leading his son's youth basketball team.
As a result, the hiring has been slammed by many members of the media who wonder why JJ Redick got to skip the line and jump ahead of other former NBA players who have spent years on NBA coaching staffs paying their dues. It's prompted uncomfortable conversations that have ranged from Redick's white privilege, to LeBron James' front office pull, to the perceived organizational incompetence of the Lakers, all while minimizing what it is the Redick potentially brings to the table.
It's not as if this is a Ted Lasso situation, where JJ Redick has no familiarity with the sport whatsoever and got the job. He has a fifteen year NBA career behind him, and he spent four seasons playing for Coach K at Duke. It's not like this is a Division II baseball coach that the Lakers hired out of nowhere to lead the team to an NBA Title. Nobody is going to need to remind Redick that in the NBA they play four quarters, not nine innings. Yet still, you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who believes this was the right hire. And that includes former Lakers legend Shaquille O'Neal, who didn't hide his feelings about the hire during a recent episode of The Big Podcast.
“It makes it look crazy that a guy with no experience can overshadow a guy like Sam Cassell who's been in the league 15 years,” Shaq said, apparently only concerned with the fifteen years Cassell has spent on the bench, not the fifteen years Redick played in the NBA. “No disrespect to JJ, but I think Sam should also be able to get the same looks. But I'm happy for JJ, a lot of pressure, you know winning games will not be good enough. Expectation when you take that job, when you take the Miami Heat job, when you take a job where there's a lot of talent, the expectation is to win championships. What kind of coach is he, I don't know.”
Nobody knows that yet, but what we do know, based solely on Redick's time playing in the NBA and his limited yet impactful time spent as an NBA analyst since retiring as a player, is that JJ Redick minds the game — pun intended — on a very intellectual level. He clearly has a vision and a plan in place, one that Lakers brass, and probably LeBron James too, was impressed by. And despite what you'll likely hear, the track record for former players whose first taste of coaching came as an NBA head coach isn't too bad.
The Lakers first-season hopes for JJ Redick
In the last 30 years, 10 other former NBA players have been hired as full-time head coaches without having any prior coaching experience. Seven of those ten finished .500 or better in their first season on the bench, and four of those seven coaches — Steve Kerr, Jason Kidd, Larry Bird, and Doc Rivers — would go on to make at least one NBA Finals appearance as head coaches. While nobody will pick the Los Angeles Lakers to make the NBA Finals in 2025, pending good health, Los Angeles should still be improved next season.
LA doesn't have the cap space to make a significant upgrade to their roster, but most contributors from last season's 47-win team will be back for the 2024-25 campaign. LeBron James returning to the Lakers is a formality at this point. Anthony Davis, Austin Reaves, Jarred Vanderbilt, Rui Hachimura, Gabe Vincent and Jaxson Hayes will all be back, as will D'Angelo Russell, who just opted into the final year of his deal. Say what you want about the Bronny James pick, but the Lakers knocked it out of the park with their selection of Dalton Knecht in the 1st Round.
And yes, part of the reason why LA should be better next season comes from a firm belief that JJ Redick will prove to be a significant upgrade over Darvin Ham — not that this is a tremendously high bar to clear.
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