After months of searching for a new head coach, the Los Angeles Lakers landed on ESPN’s analyst JJ Redick to fill this position. This is a massive gamble for L.A. to take on another first-time head coach as Redick did not have any NBA coaching experience.
However, this could pay off as Redick has been able to display his basketball IQ while breaking down schemes on his podcasts. It’s also worth mentioning is that he played 15 NBA seasons, so he knows how players operate and could rely on his career perhaps to connect with Lakers players.
Going back to Redick’s playing days, former Laker Carmelo Anthony shared a hilarious story of Kobe Bryant going at him in a Team USA practice, via 7PM in Brooklyn:
Melo tells the story of Kobe Bryant bullying JJ Redick during Team USA tryouts because he was sick of Mike Krzyzewski talking him up 😭
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📺: https://t.co/3MCGjOMI1V pic.twitter.com/A2oTSCIayd
— 7PM in Brooklyn (@7PMinBrooklyn) June 20, 2024
This is yet another story that goes to show how competitive Bryant was, even in practice, something that made him one-of-a-kind. While Redick is also known as a competitor, it is nothing compared to the level of Bryant. Team USA featured the best of the best and Anthony’s story provided that peak behind the curtain.
All things considered, if Bryant were to see this news of Redick becoming L.A.’s new head coach, he would wish him nothing but the best. Hopefully, Redick can use his time with Team USA to see how stars operate and want to be coached. That is needed with LeBron James and Anthony Davis on his team as he needs to be able to make their lives easier as a head coach, a tall task for a first-timer.
Candidates to join JJ Redick’s Lakers coaching staff
Since JJ Redick became a name worth monitoring at the beginning of this coaching search, making sure he is surrounded by experience on his staff was key. That was a downfall for previous head coach Darvin Ham as he was a first-time NBA head coach that put together a staff with no experience and there were some clear negatives from that.
Now that he has landed the job, Redick quickly has to put together a staff with the NBA Draft looming. It is a time crunch, but this needs to come together quickly so he and the front office can come together on key decisions. Luckily, shortly after this hire was reported, candidates for his coaching staff have already been leaked with Scott Brooks, Rajon Rondo and Jared Dudley being among them.
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