The Los Angeles Lakers’ newly minted head coach spent his 40th birthday outlining his vision to restore the purple and gold to championship glory.
Former NBA 3-point specialist and ESPN broadcaster JJ Redick was officially inaugurated as the franchise’s 29th head coach on Monday afternoon at the Lakers’ practice facility in El Segundo.
“[The] Lakers have some of the most passionate fans worldwide, and the expectation is a championship,” Redick said. “It is on all of us to deliver a championship-level team. That is what I signed up for.”
Basketball savant Redick can now add NBA head coach to his lengthy basketball resume, although one that does not include formal NBA coaching experience. Drafted No. 11 overall out of Duke in 2006, Redick spent 15 years in the league as a reliable 3-point shooter for various teams. While Redick’s career average of 12.6 points per game doesn’t necessarily raise eyebrows, his deep knowledge of the sport and witty personality landed him a job in front of the camera even before his playing days were over,
In August 2020, Redick founded ThreeFourTwo Productions to give NBA fans the inside scoop on the league, offering unprecedented access to players and coaches. Over his four years with ThreeFourTwo, Redick created the show “Old Man and The Three,” and later added a collaborative podcast “Mind the Game” with LeBron James, whom Redick will now coach.
Along with podcasting, Redick was a color commentator for NBA on ESPN broadcasts, most recently covering the 2024 NBA Finals.
However, Redick’s coaching experience is minimal. Outside of his son’s third—and fourth-grade basketball teams, Redick hasn’t coached a high-level team at either the collegiate or pro level.
“I am a two-time 55 Swish League champion in the third- and fourth-grade division,” Redick said in comparison to two-time national champion Dan Hurley, one the candidates for the Lakers vacancy. Yet, beginning his first NBA coaching tenure, Redick is not phased about the criticism he might receive and is focused on the bigger picture.
“I don’t give a f—. I want to coach the Lakers. I don’t dispel anything. I want to become a great coach in the NBA, and I want to win championships,” Redick said.
Coaching Philosophies
Coaching in the NBA didn’t strike Redick’s attention until he interviewed for the Toronto Raptors head coaching role last summer. The Raptors chose to go in another direction, yet in pursuit of landing a coaching job, Redick spent the last year picking the brains of coaches and managers in the league.
“I am very fortunate that I have a small circle of people currently working in the NBA that I am friends with that I can confide in and help me,” Redick said. “The further I got into those conversations, the further I got into my journaling about coaching.”
Having spent the last few years analyzing the game in different formats, Redick’s philosophies are driven by performance, leadership, collaboration and competition. Redick was forthright about being adaptable as a coach and creating marginal gains within the Lakers roster regarding three-point shooting and defense.
Redick wants to improve the Lakers’ ability to get quality looks from behind the arc, limit turnovers, and polish defensive scheming. As a unit in 2023-24, Los Angeles shot an eighth-best 37.7% from 3-point range while allowing opponents to shoot a fifth-best 37.6% from three. The Lakers also allowed an eighth-worst 117.6 points per game.
Redick was adamant about creating a competitive culture in the Lakers organization and acknowledged the importance of making the process enjoyable.
“The pursuit of greatness can not be miserable. Every day someone walks into this building, they have to enjoy it,” Redick said. “It is sort of on me to create that culture.”
Anthony Davis in the No. 1 Role
At the press conference, Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka noted the involvement of their two superstars, forwards Anthony Davis and James, and signaled a change in their respective roles on and off the court. With the future in mind, the Lakers heavily consulted with Davis during the process while James took a back seat, being supportive from a distance.
Redick took the time to address his goal of putting Davis in the best position possible to succeed. Davis is coming off an All-Star season, having averaged 24.4 points, a career-high 12.6 rebounds (third-highest in the NBA), and 2.3 blocks, earning him a fifth appearance on the All-Defensive first team. However, the current Lakers offense has ultimately been running through 39-year-old James, whose 29.2% usage rate was the highest on the team last season.
“One of the things that I brought up with [Davis] was the idea of him being a hub,” Redick said. “I don’t know if he has been used that way and sort of maximized his ability.”
Like Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokić's role, Redick wants to display Davis’ full skill set every night. Davis’ new role will have the Lakers’ offense look to run through him as a scorer and facilitator instead of being a traditional five whose sole focus is on providing an interior presence.
Focus on Player Development
As much as the Lakers organization and fans want to see James play forever, Father Time always wins. In hiring Redick, Pelinka attributed Redick’s prioritization of player development as key to his receiving the job.
“My motivation for doing this job starts with a simple foundation of service,” Redick said. “The greatest moments late in my career were about helping players.”
Young teams like the Oklahoma City Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves have found great success through dedication to player development, while the Lakers’ formula has been very different. They consistently prefer to trade away picks and young players in hopes of acquiring stars. This strategy resulted in one championship in 2020, but the franchise’s year-to-year results have been inconsistent.
“Beyond James and Davis, the group matters more than ever,” Redick said. “We need six to seven guys who can play minutes deep into the playoffs.”
Role players like guard Austin Reaves, forward Rui Hachimura and guard Max Christie are part of Redick’s plan to create a championship-caliber team. While the Lakers’ superstars steal the headlines, Redick wants to create a well-rounded group.
His first duty will be helping make the Lakers’ two selections in the NBA draft on Wednesday and Thursday. The Lakers currently hold the No. 17 and No. 55 overall picks.
Redick’s visions for the Lakers will take time to implement, needing buy-in and collaboration from players. Yet another unsuccessful coaching hire by Pelinka and Lakers President Jeanie Buss should be their last time making future decisions for the purple and gold.