A big challenge for first-time head coaches is getting buy-in from their players, and that is always amplified with the Los Angeles Lakers. With LeBron James entering his 22nd season and Anthony Davis in his prime, head coach JJ Redick has his work cut out for him.
L.A. is looking for stability with their head coach as they want Redick to be here for the long haul. But until James decides to retire, there must be an urgency to win and right the wrongs from last year.
Thankfully, the former Duke Blue Devil already has relationships with some players, one being Jaxson Hayes, who he spent time with as players on the New Orleans Pelicans. Redick was Hayes’ veteran during his first two seasons and now is his head coach.
At the Lakers’ annual Media Day, Hayes talked about that adjustment going from teammates to playing for him:
“It’s definitely a little weird at first, for sure,” Hayes said. “Coming into my rookie year, he was one of the guys I looked up to. He was one of my teammates. We were in the same second group that would come in and play together and we’d play two-man game. Obviously as all of you know, he’s a very good shooter so I’d go play a lot of two-man game with him. So it’s definitely been a little, not awkward, but weird, the dynamic. But I’m fully looking forward to it this year and really excited about it.”
When asked about his perspective, Redick talked about Hayes’ growth as a player since playing next to him in New Orleans.
“In some ways, our relationship is very similar to when I played with him because he was a rookie in my 14th year and second-year player in my 15th year so I was his vet,” Redick said after a recent practice. “I would say overall just his level of professionalism, his attention to detail is much higher than it was as a rookie. Particularly with Christian (Wood’s) injury, he’s gonna have an opportunity early in the season to play a lot of minutes for us.”
With Christian Wood slated to miss the first few weeks of the season, Hayes is expected to see backup minutes behind Anthony Davis. L.A. currently does not have center depth, so Redick will need the 24-year-old big man to produce when he is out there on the floor.
Jaxson Hayes excited to play for Lakers coach JJ Redick
After a first-round exit last year, the Lakers made the decision to part with head coach Darvin Ham and replace him with JJ Redick.
When he was first asked about being coached by his former teammate, Jaxson Hayes naturally expressed his excitement.
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