JJ Redick stood in the Lakers’ locker room and read out loud the milestones his players had achieved following their 127-113 win over the Cavaliers on Tuesday.
There was Rui Hachimura scoring his 5,000th career point. And Luka Doncic notching 15,000 career points, as well as becoming the 10th player to score 600 or more points in a month. And LeBron James becoming the winningest player of all-time in the regular season and playoffs.
Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka interjected, cueing a video of Redick’s sons congratulating him on his 100th win.
Redick fought back tears as his sons, ages 9 and 11, told him they were proud of him and loved him.
Redick had just become the first coach to lead the Lakers to back-to-back 50-win seasons since Phil Jackson, who achieved that feat four years in a row from 2008 to 2011.
How does Redick feel about his name being mentioned alongside Jackson, a Hall of Fame coach who led the Bulls and Lakers to 11 NBA championships?
“Don’t deserve to be mentioned along with Phil or Pat [Riley] or any of those guys,” Redick said. “I’ve got a lot left to accomplish, for sure.”
For the Lakers, one of the NBA’s most iconic franchises, hiring Redick was a gamble.
He had no coaching experience, except as a volunteer for his son’s 4th-grade team.
Sure, Redick had played in the NBA for 15 seasons. He turned heads with his basketball acumen as an analyst for ESPN, as well as a podcaster alongside LeBron James on “Mind the Game.”
But leading an NBA team was a completely different beast — especially one of the most heralded franchises in sports that has won 17 championships.
While the basketball world was stunned by the Lakers’ decision in June 2024, Redick felt validated.
“I knew it was right for me before I ever got the job,” he said.
“My dad was a potter, an artist,” he said. “My parents were hippies who grew up out in the sticks, first in Tennessee and then in Virginia. And at some point, as our family grew, [my dad] needed to make more money. And so he became a counselor. And eventually both him and my mom became life coaches. And for most of the entirety that I played basketball, that’s how I’ve operated — with that mindset to help people, to coach people.”
During his playing career, Redick was widely known as a 3-point specialist and an off-ball creator.
But what’s lesser known is the work he did behind the scenes.
“As I got older in the NBA, I took a great deal of joy and pride in helping my young guys in Philly, helping my young guys in New Orleans,” he said. “And I didn’t realize that I was doing it at the time, probably because like all athletes, you’re so invested in what you’re doing and your career. But it’s just a natural extension of how I was raised and my parents.”
After Redick’s playing career ended, the coaching bug grew until it became a calling he couldn’t ignore.
So, he threw himself into pursuing his dream three years ago. His first interview was with the Raptors in 2023.
“I left Toronto and said, ‘I wanna be an NBA coach,'” he said. “It was an obsession of mine for a full year and a half before I ever got the job.”
Redick’s golden opportunity came after the Lakers fired Darvin Ham following the 2023-24 season.
Even though Ham had led the Lakers to the Western Conference Finals in 2023, they wanted to pivot after the team fell to the Nuggets in the first round of the 2024 playoffs.
Known for taking big chances, anything short of a championship was a failure for the Lakers.
They hired Riley to coach the Showtime Lakers early in the 1981-82 season even though he had no head coaching experience. But at least he had served as an assistant with the Lakers from 1979-81.
As for Redick, Pelinka was drawn to his strong communication skills, in addition to his “unique perspective” and “combination of humility and swag.”
He led the team through a shocking transition last season after the Lakers dealt Anthony Davis for Luka Doncic before the Feb. 5 trade deadline. He went on to help them secure the third seed in the West before they were eliminated by the Timberwolves in the first round of the playoffs.
Redick impressed the Lakers enough that they offered him a two-year contract extension in Sept. 2025, which will keep him at the helm of the team through the 2029-30 season.
But Redick really made a name for himself this season.
He helped the Big 3 soar by making Doncic the unequivocal first option, convincing Austin Reaves he’s a star and getting James to embrace being the team’s third option. And he has done wonders with the team’s role players, who have all completely bought into his vision.
Behind Redick, the third-seeded Lakers have won 16 of their last 18 games, including a recent nine-game winning streak, heading into Thursday’s showdown with the reigning champion Thunder.
As for Redick, he may not have had coaching experience before taking over the Lakers.
But it’s a role he has been preparing for all his life.
