The Los Angeles Lakers officially announced the hiring of JJ Redick as the franchise’s next head coach, making him the 29th person to hold the position.
For months, Redick was considered the frontrunner for the job and ultimately landed the gig after their pursuit of UConn head coach Dan Hurley failed. Now, Redick will get the opportunity to lead a Los Angeles organization starved for a championship.
A few days after news broke of Redick’s hiring, the Lakers held a press conference for the former shooting guard where he touched upon several topics. However, he emphasized that he understands what he signed up for when he accepted the head coaching position.
“This process has been surreal, to say the least,” Redick began. “One of the things that kept coming up during the process with Rob, we kept talking about the word ‘gratitude.’ And I think that’s where I’ll start is just feeling so grateful for Rob, Jeanie, the entire Lakers organization, for entrusting me in this position. And I take this responsibility very seriously. I have never coached in the NBA before. I don’t know if you guys have heard that. My motivations for doing this, it starts with a very simple foundation of service. I think about the greatest moments, especially towards the end of my career, was about helping players.
“And so it starts with the desire to serve players, to serve the Lakers organization, to serve our fans. It’s also about competition and performance, collaboration, leadership. These are the things that drive me. And they will all be important as I build out my staff, as we think about the people we want to draft and get in free agency, and as we think about player development. It’s all about those things. When I think about the NBA today, the game is evolving and it’s evolving fast. And one of the things in coaching that I think you have to be is adaptable. You have to be adaptable to your roster. You have to be adaptable in game-planning against your opponent. And that’s one of the things I really will strive to be. Lastly, I just want to say, like, sitting in this seat, I know what the expectations are. Lakers fans have some of the most passionate fans around the world. And the expectation is a championship. And so it’s my job, it’s our staff’s job, it’s Rob’s job, it’s all of us to deliver a championship-caliber team. That’s what I signed up for.”
Redick is a smart individual who had to know what he was walking into when he took the role, and it was good to hear him speak about the championship expectations that both the organization and fanbase have for him. Being a head coach in Los Angeles isn’t for the faint of heart because of the immense amounts of pressure that exist, but Redick by all accounts is fueled by competition and seems to already have the appetite for the challenge.
Much has been made about Redick’s lack of experience as an NBA coach and he also did well to address that and argued his experience as a player, podcaster and broadcaster helped prepare him for the rigors of the job. Whether or not that holds up remains to be seen, but there’s no denying his basketball IQ and ability to communicate with players and the front office.
Redick may or may not coach NBA Summer League, so it could be months before people get to see him in action. However, he seems to have a clear vision for how he wants to run the Lakers and it’ll be exciting to see what he can achieve in Year 1.
Stan Van Gundy is natural target for JJ Redick’s Lakers coaching staff
To mitigate the learning curve, the Lakers are reportedly intent on surrounding himself with veteran coaches on his staff. One natural target is Stan Van Gundy, who Redick played for during his time on the Orlando Magic and New Orleans Pelicans.
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