It was a press conference to answer questions.
But all we came away with was more of them.
It was an opportunity for the Los Angeles Lakers to explain And the Hurley saga.
Los Angeles basketball’s top executive, Rob Pelinka, asked reporters to ask him later.
It was a opportunity for JJ Redick to offer a unique vision of the roster.
Turns out Redick wants more from Anthony Davis and more three-pointers.
The Lakers officially introduced Redick as head coach on Monday. He is the 29th head coach in franchise history. He is also the fourth in the last seven seasons. After abandon Luke Walton, cast Frank Vogel And dump Darwin HamLos Angeles handed the keys to Redick, a player turned podcaster with name recognition that stretches a mile wide and an experience that goes an inch deep.
“I’ve never coached in the NBA before,” Redick cracked. “I don’t know if you heard that.”
By hiring Redick, the Lakers ended one of the strangest coaching searches in recent memory. They liked Redick… but not enough to offer him the job after it opened. They wanted Hurley… but weren’t willing to pay enough to get him. Pelinka said Redick was part of Los Angeles’ “Plan A coaching pool,” but declined to elaborate on why Hurley beat him to it.
“Today is kind of JJ’s day,” Pelinka said.
Later, Redick pulled back the curtain slightly. He confirmed that the first meeting with the Lakers took place in May, during the NBA pre-draft. He described hearing the news of Los Angeles’ interest in Hurley like everyone else, during a news clipping before Game 1 of the NBA Finals. And he said Pelinka called him shortly afterward.
“At no time was he my ego or feelings are hurt or bruised in any way” Redick said. “Dan Hurley is a two-time national champion at UConn. I am a two-time champion of the 55 Swish League in the third and fourth divisions. Like, I get it.
Redick honed his skills during a 45-minute chat with the Los Angeles press, which is what you’d expect after years of working in the media. He described the feeling of committing to the Lakers while on Duke’s campus, revealed that he spent part of last year writing a coaching journal and joked that he was looking forward to his first challenge.
When asked which criticisms he hoped to prove false, Redick was prepared to answer in four words.
“I don’t really have a good answer to your question because 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 don’t know. I want to be a great NBA coach, I want to win championships and I want my players to maximize their career. That’s all that matters to me.
Redick has the approval of key figures in the locker room. LeBron James has largely stayed out of the coaching search, Pelinka said, but the relationship between James and Redick is well known. The two have been podcast partners in recent months—this podcast and all Redick media activities will stop, Redick said, with a healthy respect for everyone’s basketball IQ. Redick said his first conversation with James about the coaching job took place Thursday, shortly after he was offered it.
“And that was very intentional on our part,” Redick said. “I knew I understood that he didn’t want to be involved in any of that, and for me, I didn’t want to go down the road of what-ifs with someone who I consider a friend and someone with whom I have a lot of respect.
Davis did participate in the coaching search. “Very involved,” Pelinka said. At 39, the clock on James’ career — in Los Angeles and perhaps elsewhere — is ticking. Davis, 31, is key to Lakers’ present And the future and Redick said he plans to take advantage of him.
“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 the (center) position 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.”
But Davis and James aren’t the problem. Davis played in 76 games last season, earning second-team All-NBA honors. James played in 71 games, performing well enough to make the All-NBA Third Team for the third straight year. Redick has praised the Lakers team, but he’s smart enough to know it needs changes. As of Wednesday night, Pelinka will be free to trade for up to three first-round picks, but spending limits set by the NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement make roster deals more difficult.
“Trades are less common than before,” Pelinka said. “So are we going to look for trades that help us become a better team? Absolutely. Did these transactions have the same probability as under the old system? No, it’s a different system, so we need to be careful and thoughtful about it.
Pelinka talked about long-term plans with Redick, about prioritizing player development, about modernizing a Lakers franchise that operated for years as a team whose rich history and favorable ZIP code were enough to build a winner. He launched the idea of creating a coaching app, to “gamify player development” to better connect with the younger generation of players.
“I think innovation has to be at the heart of this,” Pelinka said. “We have a vision…to hire his support staff in some sort of technological way to get innovative minds to help him implement his basketball strategy and bring his basketball philosophy to life. ball in a way that our players can understand it, learn it and actually develops their basketball IQ.
GOOD. Innovation is a good thing and there’s no doubt the Lakers, who have one of the smallest front offices in the NBA, could use it. Player development is excellent, as Oklahoma City, Denver, Minnesota and the rest of the top teams in the Western Conference can attest. It makes sense to dedicate resources to getting the most out of Austin Reaves, Max Christie and Jalen Hood-Schifino.
But the Lakers can’t do it just that. Los Angeles is trying to thread the tightest of needles, building a winner around the soon-to-be 40-year-old James (which could require a trade of draft picks) while planning for a future beyond him (which would require keeping them).
Pelinka said the goal is to compete for championships “whether in the short term or the long term.”
Houdini pulled off easier tricks.
Redick certainly brings some passion to this process. Make no mistake: Redick didn’t need the job. Three years after retiring from the NBA, Redick reached the pinnacle of basketball broadcasting, serving as a lead analyst on ESPN at a growing podcast company. He chased this position because he wanted to, because he believes – despite his lack of coaching experience – that the work he has done since the end of his playing career has made him prepared for this role.
“I just felt like this is what I’m supposed to do,” Redick said.
On Monday, Redick looked like a coach.
In a few months, the Lakers will know if he is one.