The Los Angeles Lakers took a gamble by bringing in JJ Redick as a head coach despite no previous experience.
Dating back to Redick’s NBA career, he earned the reputation as one of the league’s best shooters and eventually transitioned into a highly knowledgeable basketball mind. Thanks to a media career with a successful podcast and calling games with ESPN, executives could see his potential coaching philosophies.
All things considered, Redick has experienced a fair amount of success since taking the helm. However, championships are what matters to the Lakers and he is chasing that ultimate goal.
A gold standard for him is Pat Riley, who is set to have his own statue unveiled outside of Crypto.com Arena on Sunday afternoon at 12:30 p.m. Ahead of this monumental moment, the Lakers coach shared high praise for Riley, as he won four titles in L.A. during the Showtime era and believes that is someone all coaches can look up to.
“I grew up watching 90s basketball and those [New York] Knicks and [Miami] Heat teams,” Redick said. “And just how physical and tough minded they were and then obviously played against Riles in Orlando when he was still coaching. The culture word is overused, but the sustainable level of consistency that Miami has had since he’s been there. I wish, maybe I don’t because I don’t want to be 48 [years-old]. I wish I was alive and well to watch 1980s basketball. But, when you don’t have a TV until 1992, it makes it tough nor the memory capacity of 2-6 years-old to really watch those games. But, what he was able to do as a head coach for the Lakers is, I think it’s the north star for any coach to be at one place for basically close to a decade and win a bunch of championships. That’s all we can ask for.”
Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy or the most noteworthy names that get tagged to the Showtime era. But Riley was promoted to head coach after paying his dues as an assistant and he eventually paved the way for a historic legacy for the Lakers franchise.
He is up there with Phil Jackson as the most successful coaches to ever step foot in Los Angeles. It is great to see the Lakers give Riley his flowers for what he did during his tenure and hear Redick’s praise and he looks to carve a name out for himself too.
JJ Redick gives keys for Lakers in second half ‘sprint’
After All-Star break, it sets up for a frantic finish for Western Conference teams battling for playoff position. The Lakers find themselves in that position and JJ Redick shared the keys for L.A. as they prepare for a second half ‘sprint’ to get ready for the playoffs.
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