The Los Angeles Lakers appear to be on the verge of hiring JJ Redick to be the franchise’s next head coach despite reports that they’re not close to a decision.
For over a month, the buzz around league circles is the Lakers are enamored with Redick’s potential as a head coach and are reportedly going so far as to compare him to Pat Riley. The parallels are easy to draw as Riley first got his start as a broadcaster before being hired to coach Los Angeles.
Redick’s lack of coaching experience would be a red flag for most teams, but his experience as a player gives him more than enough credibility to coach a team. He’s also got a good relationship with LeBron James as the two co-host the “Mind the Game” podcast together where they dive into plays and other basketball tidbits.
Although James would surely approve of Redick’s hiring, it appears that Anthony Davis might prefer the Lakers to hire New Orleans Pelicans assistant James Borrego instead, via NBA insider Marc Stein:
“It has been suggested in some corners of the league that Lakers star big man Anthony Davis probably prefers for James Borrego to get the job over Redick. Not only has Borrego been a head coach twice already in Orlando and Charlotte compared to Redick’s lack of head coaching experience, but he and Davis overlapped briefly during Borrego’s first stint with the Pelicans after Davis was drafted No. 1 overall in June 2012.”
Borrego recently interviewed with Los Angeles in-person for the second time and impressed the organization, though they still seem to be all-in on Redick as their pick. As Stein noted, Borrego and Davis spent a season together in New Orleans and by all accounts have a good relationship.
Davis’s buy-in on the new head coach will be important as his and James’ agent Rich Paul already publicly said that the franchise should probably tailoring the hire to the star big man instead of the soon-to-be 40-year-old.
Perhaps the happy medium is Redick gets offered the head coaching gig and brings along Borrego as his top assistant, but that would be a lateral move from the Pelicans so may not be feasible.
JJ Redick focused on NBA Finals instead of Lakers head coaching search
Shams Charania of the Athletic seemingly confirmed the belief that JJ Redick will ultimately be handed the Lakers job, but the former shooting guard addressed the report directly and said that he is simply focused on the 2024 NBA Finals and his broadcast work with ESPN.
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