After weeks of speculation, the Los Angeles Lakers have hired JJ Redick as their new head coach. Redick has been given a four-year deal, but the Lakers are reportedly confident he’ll be around for a lot longer. According to The Athletic, the franchise believes he can be their version of Erik Spoelstra or Steve Kerr.
“The 39-year-old Redick checks many of the boxes on the Lakers’ extensive checklist for their next coach. He’s drawn internal comparisons to a young Pat Riley as a coaching prospect who jumped from playing to the broadcast booth to the coaching chair (though Riley spent two years as a Lakers assistant before taking the top job). Los Angeles is confident he can be its version of Erik Spoelstra or Steve Kerr — a culture-setter who can grow with the franchise for over a decade.”
That’s quite lofty expectations of a man who has never coached in any capacity in the NBA. To a certain extent, I get them being optimistic that this ends up being a similar story as Kerr and the Golden State Warriors.
Kerr had never coached in the league before taking over as head coach of the Warriors in 2014. He has won four championships since then and has set a great culture within the organization.
One difference between Kerr and Redick, though, was that the former was president of basketball operations and GM for the Phoenix Suns from 2007 to 2010. He had at least worked closely with coaches in the NBA and knew how to run the ship.
As for Spoelstra, his journey was very different from that of Redick’s or Kerr’s. He joined the Miami Heat as a video coordinator in 1995 and became an assistant coach in 1997. He held that position for nine years, after which he became the head coach in 2008.
Spoelstra spent years learning under the great Pat Riley and was as well prepared for the role as a first-time head coach possibly could be. Also, the culture was already set by Riley and Spoelstra just had to make sure they didn’t go away from it. He has done well in that regard and won two championships along the way.
Redick, meanwhile, hasn’t exactly spent years learning under anyone and is going into an organization that has been described as dysfunctional. Not only is his journey nothing like Spoelstra’s but he is walking into a worse situation as well, with no Riley-like figure to guide him.
It is possible, of course, that Redick still ends up being a culture-setter like Spoelstra or Kerr and has tremendous success like them. I’d say the chances it happens are rather slim, though.
Magic Johnson Is Cautiously Optimistic About The Lakers Hiring JJ Redick
While the organization is confident about their new head coach being a hit, Magic Johnson isn’t completely sold just yet. Johnson took to X to react to the Lakers hiring Redick as their head coach.
“I’m cautiously optimistic that this new hire is a success for both the Lakers and JJ Redick. I enjoyed watching him as a player – great 3-point shooting, high basketball IQ, passion for the game, and mental and physical toughness. If he can bring how he played professionally to the Lakers – this could work out! But will his transition from star basketball player to head coach end up like Steve Kerr, Jason Kidd, Ty Lue, or Doc Rivers or the former NBA players turned coaches who weren’t successful?'”
Johnson had wanted the Lakers to get UConn’s Dan Hurley but is cautiously optimistic that the Redick hire will work out. He also added that GM Rob Pelinka has to improve the roster if the Lakers are to be serious contenders next season and that is true.
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