It has been brought up time and time again that new Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick has no prior head coach experience. For his first job to be to lead the Lakers with LeBron James and Anthony Davis is an extremely difficult one, but one he feels he can handle.
Redick has others who believe in him as well with one of those being retired coach Mike Krzyzewski who was Redick’s college coach at Duke and also was someone the Lakers reached out to during their head coach search.
In an appearance on The Herd with Colin Cowherd, Krzyzewski discussed the attributes Redick has that will allow him to succeed as head coach of the Lakers, noting his competitiveness, ability to onnect with players and knowledge of the game:
“For me, JJ is amazingly competitive, and is prepared as well as any player that I coached at Duke. He’s smart, he’s confident and he understands the game and having 15 years of being a pro, he has empathy for the guy trying to make it when he’s trying to make and makes it, and for the veteran who is still trying to make it. He was never a superstar in the NBA but he was certainly a superstar and the National Player of the Year when he played in college. So I think he has empathy for what a roster would look like. He certainly understands the pro game and he desperately wants to be a coach. I think he’s surrounded himself up to now, I don’t know his entire staff, but with some veteran coaches which will help him. I love him. I think he’s terrific and I think he can relate to his players at the best level.”
There is no denying that Redick has the tools and attributes to be an excellent head coach. But there is always going to be some skepticism when someone’s first job is at the highest level. Add in the fact that it’s the Lakers, who bring about a whole different level of scrutiny, and the extra pressure of coaching a James team and it is reasonable to wonder if Redick can handle it all.
But Krzyzewski feels he is capable and, more importantly, Redick feels he is ready to handle this job and help the Lakers succeed at the highest level.
Joel Embiid doesn’t think Lakers job is ‘perfect situation’ for JJ Redick
Someone else who believes in JJ Redick is his former teammate with the Philadelphia 76ers, Joel Embiid. The former MVP is happy for Redick, but isn’t sure if the Lakers situation is ideal for the first time head coach.
Embiid said he doesn’t feel the Lakers job is the ‘perfect situation’ for him, noting that if he succeeds it’s great, but if he struggles he could be let go very quickly. Nonetheless, he is rooting for him.
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