The appointment of JJ Redick as head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers has been a major discussion point throughout the off-season. As Redick gets ready to make his coaching debut with the Lakers, he will focus on developing the team’s frontcourt. This marks the beginning of a new era for the franchise.
Interestingly, in 2022, Redick made some negative comments about the Lakers’ coaching environment, drawing significant media attention. Now, as he joins the team, the 40-year-old has addressed those past remarks.
During an appearance on Sirius XM Radio, he said, “I did not address it with Rob. We didn’t feel the need to address it. I think when you think about certain jobs, you have to look at the life cycle of the team. And I think there’s a component to my comments about what actually is the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. …Those jobs are different than any other job in this league. And there’s an inherent pressure regardless of where that life cycle is.”
“I want that challenge. I’m not going to run from that challenge”
New Lakers Head Coach JJ Redick explains the comments he made in 2022 about LA not being a good job at that time@TermineRadio | @jumpshot8 | @SiriusXMSports | #NBA2KSummerLeague pic.twitter.com/uLN9tH41Ex
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) July 13, 2024
The 40-year-old emerged as the top candidate in the Lakers’ head coach search and now gets his first shot at leading an NBA team. Despite the difficulty of the assignment, he seems prepared to face it openly. In the same interview, Redick said, “I want that challenge. I’m not going to run from that challenge. You certainly have to look at what I think is actually a very good roster, a very balanced roster.”
JJ Redick Praises Lakers’ Efficient Roster
JJ Redick is familiar with the dynamics of a high-powered offense because of his reputation as a pin-point shooter. His new ideas suggest he wants to modify the Lakers’ game plan. It was annoying that teams recently stopped using offensive tactics that worked, but Redick is focused on making their offense better.
During the Lakers’ Las Vegas Summer League game, he said, “If you look at the efficiency numbers when they played random versus when they played out of sets, the sets had a much higher efficiency. We have LeBron and AD on our team. Those guys are obviously going to be offensive hubs. But we are going to play with more movement and more cutting, and we certainly have to get buy-in from all the players to play that way.”
