JJ Redick?
Seriously?
The Los Angeles LeBrons appear to be closing in on the landmark hire of a bench boss who possesses but one legitimate qualification.
JJ Redick could be the next Lakers head coach because he has a podcast with LeBron James.
Period. End of resume.
Redick has never been a coach at any level above elementary school. He’s never been a head coach or assistant coach or college coach or even a high school coach.
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He’s never overseen a practice. He’s never worked the sidelines. He’s never had that responsibility. He’s never dealt with that pressure.
I’ve coached or assisted in as many NBA games as JJ Redick, and he’s going to run the Lakers?
Seriously?
This would not only be one of the oddest Lakers coaching hires in a long list of them — remember that glorious moment when Pat Riley and Jerry West both coached the team? — but it might also be the first talk-show driven head coaching hire in NBA history.
Redick would be hired simply because he is James’ wingman. He would be named head honcho simply because he is a great co-host.
The Lakers would be morphing from basketball team to buddy movie.
Their expected choice of Redick — virtually every expert considers him the heavy favorite — makes less sense with every syllable.
Granted, the recently debuted podcast, “Mind the Game,” is great, bordering on brilliant. It’s a master class in basketball strategy, filled with inside hoops chatter that reveals a deep respect between its two talking heads.
James likes chopping up strategy with Redick. James clearly thinks like Redick. They are so connected, it’s not difficult to imagine James believing he could essentially be a co-coach with Redick.
The Lakers certainly seem to be imagining it.
Which apparently could make it a reality.
It’s an awe-inspiring thing, really, watching the NBA’s greatest franchise continually roll over to placate its best player, even though James is probably in the final two years of his career, even though he’s aging and prone to injury, even to the point of hiring a coach who has no business sitting at the front of the bench.
That space was once occupied by two coaches who led the Lakers to five titles each. It was more recently inhabited by a coach who led the Lakers to their latest title.
And here comes Redick, who has never played for an NBA or college champion. In 13 professional seasons, his teams made the Finals once, the conference finals twice and he was part of that Clippers bunch that blew a three-games-to-one lead against Houston in that historic series in 2015.
I’ve won as many titles as JJ Redick, yet he’s going to lead the franchise with one of the greatest winning traditions in sports?
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Of course, if recent Lakers history is any indication, he’ll be little more than a co-leader. He’s going to follow James’ directions for two years until the King hangs up his crown, at which point Redick could be gone too.
Just ask Byron Scott.
So , in reality, the Redick hire might not mean much because the Lakers can’t do much until James leaves. They’re not going to win in the next two years, anyway, so what does it matter who serves as the sacrificial coach?
Well, this coach would still be the face and voice of one of the most popular brands in sports, so it does matter. It matters more than just picking out a Facebook friend. It matters for history and legacy and all the tradition the Lakers hope will shadow their annual struggles to make the play-in tournament.
To be fair, Redick doesn’t come completely unarmed. He’s smart. Really smart. Eight years ago, he became the first NBA player to host a podcast during the regular season, and he’s currently sharp and insightful as an ESPN analyst
In fact, strictly judging from his current pod, Redick sounds as if he’d be the perfect coach, and the exact opposite of poor Darvin Ham, a nice figure who was dogged by his inability to make adjustments.
Yet on the pod, Redick is talking to only one man, and there are bottles of wine between them. What happens when he has to share this knowledge with a dozen men, and nothing between them but a white board and three minutes?
Then, what happens when this great basketball brain clashes with the suspicions of players who wonder who’s actually doing the talking?
Udonis Haslem, a league stalwart who spent 20 seasons with the Miami Heat and is currently in their front office, asked that same question on ESPN.
“I’m gonna go ahead and say it — if it’s JJ, it’s gonna be a cynical locker room,” Haslem said. “You’re going to see guys that are gonna say, ‘Is coach going to do a podcast after the game with LeBron?’ You’re gonna have a cynical locker room of guys that are gonna side-eye everything JJ says. Cause they’re gonna wonder, ‘Is it JJ’s message? Or is it LeBron’s message?’”
The guess here is that James’ current message to the Lakers is clear.
Hire JJ or risk losing him this summer when he opts out of his contract. Hire JJ and he’ll retire as a Laker. Hire JJ, period.
It would look different if James were any good at evaluating coaches. He’s not. This will be his third coaching change in seven Lakers seasons, LeBron turning on them as quickly as he endorses them.
A coach who won an NBA title was canned. A coach who led the team to the conference finals was booted.
Remember back when James tried to get Erik Spoelstra fired from Miami before Spoelstra became one of the best coaches in the NBA?
At that time, Pat Riley proved to be the first executive in the NBA to stand up to James. He is still the only one.
Yet it’s not too late for Rob Pelinka, who needs to realize that if James retires without winning another championship, then the blame will shift to Pelinka.
This is the perfect time for him to stand up to James and say no.
No, to a coach who has never coached. No, to a coach who will serve as a caddie.
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In saying no, Pelinka finally will be calling James’ bluff.
Would he really leave his Los Angeles home to spend two more seasons starting over elsewhere? No way.
Would he really walk away from his business interests because they didn’t hire his buddy? Forget it.
It will be the upset of the year if James doesn’t finish his career as a Laker, and Pelinka needs to worry more about what comes next.
Find a coach not for the end of the LeBron James era, but for the meat of the Anthony Davis era.
Find an experienced assistant with rings and respect. Find somebody strong enough to wrest control of the organization from a superstar who has become a stop sign.
That somebody is out there, his name is Tyronn Lue, but Steve Ballmer is no dummy. So find the next Lue. And find him without checking with James.
It’s easier said than done, and probably not going to happen.
There’s a better chance of them drafting Bronny James in the first round and assigning him to coach the team.
Wait. That’s a joke. Right?
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
