JJ Redick is in his sophomore season of coaching for the Los Angeles Lakers and he is looking to take a leap after a productive first year that ended with an unfortunate first-round exit.
Although general manager Rob Pelinka brought in three rotation players with Deandre Ayton, Jake LaRavia and Marcus Smart, Redick needs to find a way to fit the pieces together. There is less room for error this season due to the competition in the Western Conference, but L.A. possesses enough talent to stay above water until LeBron James comes back from injury.
As a competitor, Redick wants to be better and learn from his mistakes last year. With that, he consulted with Los Angeles Rams Super Bowl head coach Sean McVay to pick his brain in the offseason. McVay spoke about that meeting and came away impressed with the Lakers head coach, via FanDuel TV’s Run It Back:
“I think what’s cool about this platform is getting a chance to know people like you guys and other coaches and there’s a willingness to share because we’re not in the same competitive space. JJ’s a guy that he’s super smart, he’s interested. The best people that I’ve been around, they want to listen, learn and that allows you to be able to lead the best way possible. So I’m always looking to learn from guys. Getting with JJ Redick, I’m a T-Lue fan, gotten a relationship with Joe Mazulla and Steve Kerr and even Doc Rivers when he was here with the Clippers. But spending some time with JJ this offseason, his capacity for the game is so impressive. There’s a lot of things you guys talk about where I can understand it enough to be dangerous but then I’m like man, his capacity is so beyond. You can tell there’s an ownership, there’s a security to be able to let his players have a big input, and I think that’s such a big thing in this league, the amount of time you guys spend with one another, the amount of games and the importance of being able to improve and use the games to improve to find your identity as you go.”
When McVay was hired by the Rams, he was viewed as a bright young mind in the NFL with no previous head coaching experience. Fast forward, he is regarded as one of the top coaches in the league and Redick finds himself at a similar starting point.
Pressure in L.A. is always at an all-time high and he needs to produce results with Luka Doncic as the No. 1 option. Seeing how invested Redick is to improve is a positive sign, and now it needs to translates into wins for the Lakers.
JJ Redick lays out goals for 2025-26 season
Rob Pelinka, in an unorthodox move, rewarded JJ Redick with a contract extension this offseason as a bode of confidence in him. In recent memory, the head coach position has been unstable and Redick looks to be that long term solution for L.A.
Heading into his second season with job security, the former 15-year NBA veteran laid out his goals, which features winning as much as possible and treating his employees right so they enjoy coming to work every day.
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