JJ Redick’s first season as the Los Angeles Lakers head coach has gone better than many expected. Redick has led the Lakers to 50 wins and secured the third seed in the Western Conference, which seemed unrealistic at the start of the season. According to Rui Hachimura, though, this was his head coach’s goal all along.
It speaks to Redick’s confidence in his own abilities and the team he had that he believed they could pull this off. The 40-year-old has silenced all the doubters who believed the Lakers were making a terrible decision by hiring him. To be fair, though, it seemed like a huge risk to give him the job considering he had no experience.
Sure, Redick came across as very knowledgeable about the game on his podcast and ESPN, but that doesn’t guarantee you’d be a good coach. There’s a lot more that goes into that, and he has shown he has what it takes to succeed.
Redick’s critics might argue that his job was made a lot easier when the Lakers acquired Luka Doncic from the Dallas Mavericks in February. While that is true, the fact is, they were 31-19 before Doncic made his debut for them, and that’s about a 50-win pace.
Redick was doing a pretty job of coaching the Lakers before Doncic arrived and has continued to do so afterward. He also deserves credit for being able to integrate a big piece like the Slovenian in a short period of time, as that’s not easy to do at all.
The Lakers had reportedly believed that Redick had the potential to be as good as Pat Riley before they hired him. It’s still too early to declare that his coaching career is going to be even half as good as Riley’s was, but he is certainly off to a good start.
JJ Redick On His First Season As Lakers Head Coach
The Lakers secured the third seed with a 140-109 win over the Houston Rockets at Crypto.com Arena on Friday. After the game, Redick was asked how he thought his first season had gone in his press conference.
“It’s not done,” Redick said. “I spent all of three and a half minutes on the flight back from Dallas just thinking about making the playoffs and thinking about the coaching profession.
“I think as a coach, you’re obviously judged on regular season wins and losses and your ability to get to the playoffs, but I think the other two things that you’re really judged on are the way you’re able to handle the pressure of the playoffs, the adjustments, the in-game stuff,” Redick stated. “There’s still so much work that we have to do, myself, our staff.
“Then I think you’re also judged on the culture you create,” Redick added. “And whether or not your players and everybody in the building like coming to work.”
Redick certainly appears to have created a great culture, and the players seem to be loving life under him. He realizes, though, that he can’t pat himself on the back just yet.
Redick will be judged based on how the Lakers perform in the playoffs. If they flame out, you better believe the critics will be out in full force. For now, though, Redick still has one last regular-season game to coach in his first season, as the Lakers take on the Portland Trail Blazers at the Moda Center on Sunday at 3:30 PM ET.
