It’s no secret at this point that the Los Angeles Lakers players were out on head coach Darvin Ham last season, and the organization is hoping that the hiring of JJ Redick will help turn things around.
So far, that seems to be the case as a number of players have spoken about how much they are enjoying having Redick as their coach.
D’Angelo Russell has notably built an instant connection with Redick, believing he is already closer to him than most of the coaches he has played for. Russell has really been liking the plays Redick is drawing up and his overall IQ.
Additionally, Rui Hachimura recently said that there is a natural respect that the players on the team have for Redick considering he was recently a player himself.
The latest player to heap praise on Redick was rookie Bronny James. At shootaround before the team’s preseason opener on Friday in Palm Springs, he said he has sensed that the vibes are better than last season.
“He’s a great coach so far. It’s been amazing vibes in the facility so far. I feel like it’s upped the vibes from what it was last year from what I’ve heard,” James said.
Bronny wasn’t on the Lakers last season but he was of course still around the team with his dad LeBron playing in the purple and gold so there may have been some conversations at the James household.
Regradless, even if everything seems great now, Redick will face a ton of pressure to win games early in his tenure to keep the Lakers in a position to contend. If not, then he could very well face the same fate as Ham, who was let go after two seasons despite two postseason appearances.
JJ Redick went over Lakers’ identity in meeting with players
Before training camp even got underway, new head coach JJ Redick met with his players in a productive meeting to go over some things, including what their identity will be this upcoming season.
“It was good. The reason I did that, one of the things that I’m big on is efficiency,” Redick said following the Lakers’ first practice. I haven’t been around LeBron a ton, but I know that’s big for him as well. And I think as any NBA player will tell you, they really value their time. And I did not want to take time today to have some long meetings. So I used last night as a meeting to just set the tone for who we’re gonna be on both ends of the floor and the things that we’re gonna value as a group. That’s really what last night was about.”
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