Organization ‘Intrigued’ With JJ Redick In Head Coaching Search

All reports have indicated that the Los Angeles Lakers will have a long and extensive search for a new head coach this offseason, although the name that seems to keep coming up is JJ Redick.

Redick has never been a coach at any level, but has a very high IQ and a close relationship with LeBron James after starting a podcast together earlier this year. With James’ contract situation up in the air, if he suggests to the organization that they hire Redick as the next head coach then they will need to take that strongly into consideration.

It appears the Lakers are preparing for that scenario as they are doing a lot of research on Redick and are intrigued with him potentially replacing Darvin Ham, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN:

“Their search is going to ramp up this week, I’m told. Rob Pelinka and the Lakers front office, they’ll be in Chicago for the league’s draft combine. You can expect them to start calling for permission to talk to coaches around the league, some assistants. But one name that the Lakers have been drilling down on in their initial research here: JJ Redick, our colleague at ESPN. He is certainly somebody that the Lakers are intrigued with. They’ve been making a lot of calls to try to learn more about him. But expect this to be a wide-ranging and a lengthy search for L.A.”

Even if Redick is viewed as the favorite, the Lakers are still likely to interview a number of different candidates, both with head coaching experience and without. They most recently were linked to a few qualified assistants across the league such as David Adelman, Micah Nori, Sean Sweeney and Chris Quinn.

If they want to go with a former head coach, then Kenny Atkinson seems to be the only one available unless Tyronn Lue decides to leave the L.A. Clippers.

Regardless, it seems that the Lakers’ search for a new head coach is starting to ramp up with Redick and others likely to interview in the coming weeks.

JJ Redick explains what about coaching appeals to him

JJ Redick has been enjoying his time in the media since he retired from playing, but he explained what it is about coaching that may be appealing to him.

“I am currently a broadcaster and a podcast host of multiple podcasts and really just enjoying those things,” Redick said. “Very fortunate to be doings this. The coaching thing…Channing and RJ I would guess that there’s a part of you, and it’s a very, very, small part of me that misses playing. Like, actually playing basketball. There’s a small part of me that misses shooting a basketball or coming off a screen and shooting. But it’s a small part.

“What I really miss is the juice. I miss the action, I miss the competition, I miss leadership, I miss being on a team. In a locker room, physically in a locker room after winning a road game. You miss that stuff. There’s a high that you get as an athlete that goes beyond passing and shooting and dribbling, and taking a charge or dunking a basketball. Those are all these little moments of actual gameplay. It’s the other moments that I feel we all miss as ex-athletes. And the part about coaching in general is the things that I miss and the things that I love doing that involves coaching. That all is part of coaching. That’s all.”