When hiring a first-time head coach, one who has no experience at any major level, the construction of the coaching staff becomes that much more important. Thus is the case with the Los Angeles Lakers and new head coach JJ Redick.
Many believe that Redick has the traits to be a successful NBA head coach, but his lack of experience has regularly been brought up. There have been rumors about the need for he and the Lakers to build the right coaching staff, one with former NBA head coaches on it and that is certainly part of the plan.
Redick appeared on Mason and Ireland on ESPN LA Radio and outlined his ideal coaching staff. The new Lakers coach said that he wants a balance with experienced former head coaches as well as hungry up-and comers and is not looking for a bunch of yes men to just follow whatever he says:
“We are completely aligned in that the front of the bench should have experience. We definitely want at least a couple former head coaches in the NBA there. Behind the bench we want young, hungry, innovative, fresh, self-doers, self-motivated, that’s what we want behind the bench. There’s gotta be that balance. You’ll hear me talk about duality all the time, I want that duality, I do.
“In terms of the voice, in terms of the disagreement or the yes men, I certainly want people to disagree with me. I certainly want to have conversations about strategy, game-planning where there is disagreement and we can talk through it. The key part is that there is one voice. If I say it and then an assistant coach goes and delivers the message, it’s me saying it. I think that’s the big part. There has to be a level of trust, collaboration, all that stuff. But the disagreement has to exist too.”
This makes a lot of sense as the need for former head coaches to help with that experience is obvious. But Redick is also a very forward-thinking and innovative person and so having those younger, hungry assistants on the Lakers staff embracing and pushing new ideas is a necessity as well.
It is also nice to see Redick wanting those disagreements and the dialogue that comes with them. As he said, it is a collaborative effort and as long as everything is out on the table and discussed properly, the Lakers as a whole should be better knowing that all ideas and possibilities were were weighed before coming to a final decision.
Lakers GM Rob Pelinka on the same page with JJ Redick in building coaching staff
It is always important for the main pieces within the franchise to be on one accord and that looks to be the case with the Lakers in terms of head coach JJ Redick and general manager Rob Pelinka. At Redick’s introductory press conference, Pelinka also spoke about building Redick’s staff and discussed similar ideas in setting him up for success.
“Yeah, just on the names question, we’ve already started a very collaborative dialogue around how to build out JJ’s bench,” Pelinka said. “And, you know, clearly leaning into that experience with the front of the bench coaches and finding hopefully a couple guys that are former head coaches, I think is going to set JJ up for support.
“At the end of the day, that’s what we’re most interested in doing is make sure we help him select and build a staff that sets him and the team up for success. And that’s beginning today on the first day of his job.”
Have you subscribed to our YouTube channel? It’s the best way to watch player interviews, exclusive coverage from events, participate in live shows, and more!
