Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick has had a whirlwind rookie season, as his team essentially changed entirely with Luka Doncic’s shocking arrival.
However, Redick has formulating winning basketball game plans throughout these different phases of his roster. Currently, the Lakers are sitting at the second seed of the Western Conference and riding an eight-game winning streak as they embark on a four-game road trip.
When the former 15-year NBA veteran was hired by L.A., opinions formed early regarding potential success in his first season. No one could envision what had transpired, but Redick exceeded expectations, leading to comparisons to Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay, who also came to L.A. as a young, innovative mind.
Naturally, comparisons are being made of Redick to McVay and the Lakers coach talked about their relationship thus far, revealing they had conversations before the former got into coaching.
“First of all comparisons is the thief of joy and I love Sean,” Redick said. “He is actually someone I talked to a bunch before I took this job. Unfortunately, we’ve both been busy and have not been able to connect. His season started and then my season started. I think as a coach, as a player during the season, I had a constant baseline level of edge and anxiety and fear and just competitive spirit. Like, it was everyday, all day, even on off days, it was just there. All that stuff is there as a coach, I think there is a paranoia as a coach.
“I was trying to explain this to my brother, who’s in town this week and I was trying to explain to him after the game the other night. It’s just like, the game ends and when you win and it’s immediately to, ‘Man, we could have done this better.’ Or, ‘Man, we are going to get exposed on this.’ Whether it’s realistic or not, I don’t know. But, it’s that constant paranoia that’s always there as a coach.”
No one is questioning Redick’s desire and preparation as a head coach, as he has displayed his succeed with a franchise like the Lakers. To have a Super Bowl winning coach in McVay to connect with is something to take advantage of, so it’s good to see they have connected.
Granted, both of them are coaching entirely different sports, but if Redick wants to win a championship, it does not get much better than McVay, who knows what it takes to get to the mountaintop at a young age.
JJ Redick proud of Lakers’ ability to play hard every single night
Integrating a generational talent over the halfway point of the season is a daunting task, but JJ Redick is finding ways to pick up wins for the Lakers despite these circumstances. A key ingredient to their winning ways is playing hard and Redick is proud of his team’s competitive spirit every single night.
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