The Los Angeles Lakers made a head-scratching decision yesterday when they announced the official hiring of ESPN broadcaster JJ Redick as their new head coach.
Once UConn’s Dan Hurley turned the Lakers down, many thought that Redick-to-LA was the likeliest of outcomes.
However, the relative predictability of the decision doesn’t make it any less strange.
Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times destroyed the Lakers for the unorthodox hiring.
“So now it’s painfully clear that JJ doesn’t stand for Just Joking … So now this is real. Real unusual. Real unsettling. Real unfortunate,” Plaschke wrote in his scathing column.
“An NBA team in most need of strong leadership just hired a head coach who has never been a head coach, assistant coach, or any kind of coach.
“An NBA team desperate for a culture creator just hired a head coach who has never led a group of athletes at any level above youth basketball.
“An NBA team that just lost its share of the record for most championships — the newly crowned Boston Celtics now have 18, dammit! — just hired a coach who has never been involved with an NBA champion.
“An NBA team that needs a powerful voice to drown out the overwhelming and often misguided influence of LeBron James just hired LeBron James’ podcast partner.
“Welcome to the Lakers, JJ Redick…”
Ouch! Tell them how you really feel, Bill!
Redick is an extremely sharp basketball mind who had a strong and impressive 15-year career in the NBA.
Having said that, his lack of coaching experience to go along with the fact that he’s buddy-buddy with LeBron James has to be absolutely frightening for fans who wish to see the Lakers get back to the elite level of the NBA.
Carmelo Anthony is one of the most popular NBA players in recent memory.
Although he is most known for his days with the Denver Nuggets and New York Knicks, Melo did spend the 2021-2022 season with the Lakers.
Interestingly, he recently shared a behind-the-scenes story regarding the combative relationship between Redick and Lakers legend Kobe Bryant.
“I remember Kobe couldn’t stand JJ Redick,” Anthony said on his “7PM in Brooklyn” podcast.
He recalled one instance in particular when Redick was trying out for Team USA.
At the time, Mike Krzyzewski, who coached Redick at Duke, was the Team USA head coach and frequently praised Redick, who was a two-time ACC Player of the Year and the 2006 National Player of the Year in college.
All of the Redick praise did not sit well with Kobe – at all…
“He got tired of Coach K talking about JJ Redick,” Anthony explained on the podcast.
“Kob took it very, very personal. To the point where he was running through screens in practice. He was denying JJ the ball. Fouling the sh*t out of JJ.
“I’m like, why are you treating the young boy like that?
“This Motherf*ckr ain’t let JJ Redick score in practice!” Melo added.
Anthony did not specify the exact year that this occurred, but it seems the story took place before the 2008 Beijing Games.
Redick was in his second NBA season after being drafted 11th overall by the Orlando Magic.
He played for the Team USA Under-21 Team in 2005, winning gold medals at the World Championship and the Global Games, but he never made the Team USA Olympics roster.
Bryant, meanwhile, won gold at the 2008 Beijing Games and the 2012 London Games.
What are your thoughts on Melo’s story? … Can you picture Kobe being tough on Redick?
More importantly, what are your thoughts on the Lakers decision to hire JJ?
Do you think he has what it takes to be an elite NBA head coach?
Or do you think this move has disaster written all over it???