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Dave McMenamin, ESPN writer
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — JJ Redick was introduced as the coach of the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday and the recent NBA podcast host and television analyst was quick to address the most glaring omission in his curriculum vitae.
“I’ve never coached in the NBA before,” Redick said. “I don’t know if you heard that.”
Redick, whose first day on the job coincided with his 40th birthday, retired after a 15-year playing career in 2021. After playing at Duke University and making the 20th most 3-pointers in NBA history, he has remained connected to basketball through various media, including co-hosting a podcast with LeBron James, “Mind the Game,” and calling the NBA Finals for ESPN and ABC.
Lakers vice president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka countered by saying that “NBA head coaching experience and NBA experience are not mutually exclusive.” , and praised the former shooter as someone who can be innovative, not just on the sidelines. , but by shaping the entire organization.
“I think in the industry in general and in sports in particular, sometimes it’s easy to get caught up in a sea of sameness and do the same thing as everyone else,” Pelinka said, sitting next to Redick during the press conference. “But when we embarked on this research, it was really important for us to see if we could do something a little different. And quickly, in our conversations with JJ, it became very obvious that he had a unique perspective and philosophy on the game of basketball and how it should be taught.
Redick agreed to a four-year contract last week, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Between Games 2 and 3 of the Finals, University of Connecticut men’s basketball coach Dan Hurley turned down a six-year, $70 million offer from the Lakers, according to Wojnarowski, after Redick already been involved in discussions with Pelinka about the position.
“During this entire court (Hurley’s court), at no time were my ego or my feelings hurt or bruised in any way,” Redick said. “Dan Hurley is a two-time national champion at UConn. I’m a two-time 55 Swish League champion in the third and fourth division. Like, I get it, you know? I get it.”
The Lakers, after also interviewing James Borrego in person and discussing the job offer with Sam Cassell of the Boston Celtics, David Adelman of the Denver Nuggets and Micah Nori of the Minnesota Timberwolves, postponed their search for Redick – who Pelinka said , was still in the team’s “Plan A candidate pool.”
Redick, whose production company signed a multimillion-dollar distribution deal with Wondery and Amazon Music for his podcast “Old Man and the Three” in 2022, said his former Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle, “ had planted the seed” to consider coaching and he fully committed to the idea after interviewing with the Toronto Raptors for a coaching position in May 2023.
“It was really after I interviewed for the job in Toronto last year that I knew I wanted to be an NBA head coach,” Redick said. “And so last year, I spent a lot of time talking to coaches, talking to general managers, picking their brains. … I just felt like this is what I’m supposed to do .”
Her podcast with James, which began in late March, will be shut down.
“For now, and I hope this is a very, very long time, I am excommunicated from the content space,” Redick said. “So there won’t be a podcast. … I’m done with the podcast for now.”
James, 39, who Redick called a “friend,” kept his distance during the interview process.
“He didn’t give any advice,” Redick said. “LeBron and I didn’t talk about the Lakers job until Thursday afternoon, about 30 minutes after I was offered the job. And that was very intentional on our part.”
James has until June 29 to enter the final year of his contract with the Lakers or become an unrestricted free agent. Los Angeles is committed to re-signing James and would offer the maximum three-year contract James is eligible for to see him through his 24th season in the league, sources told ESPN.
Pelinka said James “supported” the Lakers’ search but “chose not to get heavily involved.” Lakers center Anthony Davis “chose to be very involved,” however, according to Pelinka and was “very excited” about Redick’s hiring.
As for how Redick will coach the two Los Angeles stars, he said he anticipates James — coming off a season in which he shot a career-best 41 percent from beyond the arc — will shoot more 3s and let Davis control more of the offense.
“One of the things I brought up with him is just the idea of him being a hub,” Redick said. “There’s a group of guys at No. 5 in the NBA that operate that way. I don’t know if he’s been used that way and if he’s kind of maximized all of his abilities.”
Neither Davis nor James were present for Redick’s introductory press conference, but a handful of Lakers players were, including Spencer Dinwiddie, Gabe Vincent, Christian Wood, Colin Castleton and Maxwell Lewis.
Redick said it won’t just be Davis and James that get the Lakers back to a point where they can add to their 17 titles, but rather the strength of their group – pointing to the success enjoyed by the Boston Celtics, Minnesota Timberwolves and the Dallas Mavericks. and the Indiana Pacers made the playoffs this spring.
Redick said championship expectations for the Lakers next season are “reasonable,” even though the team is coming off a campaign in which it finished 7th in the Western Conference and lost in five games against the Denver Nuggets in the first round.
“I don’t consider the current squad to be that far from a championship-caliber team,” he added.
After preempting his lack of coaching experience before a reporter questioned it, Redick was asked if there were any “misconceptions” about him that he noticed in the coverage of his candidacy and which he wished to dispel.
“I really don’t care,” Redick said. “Honestly, I want to coach the Lakers. I want to coach the team. I don’t want to diss anything. I want to become a great coach in the NBA. And I want to win championships. And I want my players to maximize their careers. C That’s all that matters to me.