The Los Angeles Lakers officially hired JJ Redick to be the franchise’s next head coach on June 24. And in the time since, there have been many rumors as to who might join Redick on his coaching staff but L.A. has yet to bring in a formal hire.
From all the rumors, it appears that the Lakers are valuing head coaching experience in Redick’s staff, leading to candidates like Alvin Gentry and Scott Brooks.
Gentry has not coached in the NBA since 2022, when he was let go after spending most of the 2021-22 season as the interim head coach of the Sacramento Kings. He was retained in an executive role. Gentry has been a head coach or an associate head coach at many different destinations over the last 25 years. But his five seasons with the New Orleans Pelicans as head coach is most notable.
He was Anthony Davis’ head coach for four seasons and Redick’s for one, and it’s perhaps that connection that has piqued the Lakers reported interest when building out their staff, according to Brad Turner of The L.A. Times:
Sources: Lakers have interest in talking to former NBA coach Alvin Gentry about being an assistant on JJ Redick’s staff. Gentry coached Anthony Davis in New Orleans and his teams were very efficient offensively.
— Brad Turner (@BA_Turner) July 2, 2024
Adding former head coaches to Redick’s staff is an important development for L.A., as they are hoping to bring some experience to mesh with Redick’s high basketball IQ. This is often how teams will try to balance hiring a first-time head coach, especially one like Redick with no professional coaching experience.
But at this stage, it appears to just be reported interest. The Lakers have not made any formal hires, but with Gentry two years removed from his last coaching job, he may be anxious to get out of the front office and back to the bench.
Lakers introducing rookies
The Lakers are having an introductory press conference on Tuesday to introduce their two rookies to the team. Fans will hear from No. 17 overall pick Dalton Knecht and No. 55 pick Bronny James for the first time as they are brought into the mix.
Knecht is the type of player expected to make an instant impact given his age and skillset. Meanwhile, James is seen as more of a project that could spend a decent amount of the 2024-25 season in the G League with the South Bay Lakers.
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