Lakers name JJ Redick new head coach

J.J. Redick (right, guarding Tomas Satoransky) (Keith Allison, Wikimedia Commons)

According to the Associated Press on Thursday, the Los Angeles Lakers will name JJ Redick (pictured right) as their new head coach. Redick of Cookeville, Tennessee, retired from the National Basketball Association as a player on September 21, 2021. Since then he has been a studio analyst and colour commentator for ESPN’s NBA coverage. The Lakers are taking a gamble on Redick, who is joining Los Angeles as their head coach even though he has no prior coaching experience at the professional or collegiate level. He has not been an assistant coach either.

Redick is expected to sign a four-year deal worth $32 million. It is interesting because Redick was Los Angeles’s second choice. Their first choice was Dan Hurley of Jersey City, New Jersey. Hurley, who had been the head coach at the University of Connecticut, and has won a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Championship the last two years, has decided to stay with the Huskies. He turned down a six-year deal worth $70 million. According to Scott Ericson of the CT Insider, the Lakers are actually saving $40 million having Redick coach them instead of Hurley.

The Lakers were in need of a head coach after firing Darvin Ham on May 3. The Lakers won only one postseason game in the 2024 NBA Playoffs.

As a player, Redick spent 15 seasons as a guard in the NBA from 2006 to 2021. He was with the Orlando Magic from 2006 to 2013, the Milwaukee Bucks in 2013, the Los Angeles Clippers from 2013 to 2017, the Philadelphia 76ers from 2017 to 2019, the New Orleans Pelicans from 2019 to 2021, and the Dallas Mavericks in 2021. In 940 regular season games, Redick averaged 12.8 points per game, two rebounds per game, and two assists per game, with a field goal percentage of .447, three-point percentage of .415, and a free throw percentage of .892.

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