JJ Redick had en eventful 42nd birthday on Wednesday as he celebrated the two-year anniversary of becoming the Los Angeles Lakers’ head coach, as well as the team re-signing star guard Austin Reaves to a new contract.
Additionally, Redick got to spend his day at SoFi Stadium visiting with the USA Men’s soccer team during their training session for Thursday’s World Cup match against Turkiye. He got to meet USA manager Mauricio Pochettino and the two would exchange jerseys:
Linked up with the @Lakers in LA! 🤝 pic.twitter.com/pKLnS0isSU
— U.S. Soccer Men's National Team (@USMNT) June 25, 2026
After their training session, Pochettino revealed what he told Redick when they spoke and exchanged jerseys, via Andrew Jerell Jones of Bleav Network:
#USMNT Mauricio Pochettino had fun talking about meeting JJ Redick just a short while ago for a jersey swap:
“I congratulated him since it’s his birthday. I know it’s Lionel Messi’s BDay too.😂”
A must see
🎥 FIFA, via @TWDTV1 https://t.co/WL1PfXFqFAhttps://t.co/9Ld0mJmxk6 pic.twitter.com/AushG4B0DB— Andrew Jerell Jones, Luke 1:37 (BlueSky too now) (@sluggahjells) June 24, 2026
It’s nice to see that Redick got to enjoy his birthday, even with the second round of the NBA Draft ongoing. He has always been a big sports fan and has made a point to pick the brains of other great coaches such as Pochettino and Sean McVay of the Los Angeles Rams.
The USA Men’s National Team has gotten off to an exceptional start to this World Cup as they won their first two games to secure first place in their group, advancing to the knockout rounds. Thursday night’s final group stage match against Turkiye is meaningless when it comes to the standings, so the hope is that they can take care of business without losing any key players to injury.
JJ Redick details growth in Year 2
Redick has now completely two seasons as head coach of the Lakers, and he detailed the growth he felt from his first year to his second.
“I think I’ve grown in a lot of ways,” Redick said at his end-of-season press conference. “But I think it would be unfair for me to talk about that. You’d probably get a better answer St. Jean, J-Rob, Bo, Rob, my players who were here last year.
“I will say, the confidence level, particularly in-game, of being able to have clarity, I think that was a real area of growth this year. Believe it or not — even though it gets clipped out every time — I think my emotional control was better. I don’t think I made any snarky comments to you guys all season. Maybe one? And truthfully, this is why I love coaching. There’s always room for growth. I’m excited.
“I wish the offseason had ended on June 21, or whatever date the Finals is over, but I’m excited for another opportunity to grow this offseason and again prepare myself for another year of growth as a coach.”
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