The Los Angeles Lakers took a bit of a risk when they hired JJ Redick to be their head coach ahead of the 2024-25 NBA season. Redick had never coached professionally but built up strong equity in his basketball IQ in his years as a player and then his time as an analyst for ESPN and a podcast host.
Redick easily could have been a disaster at the helm of his first NBA team. Instead, he led the Lakers to the playoffs in his first season, despite the team undergoing a seismic roster change midseason in the form of Luka Doncic. He completely shifted the way the Lakers played, and the team went on a shocking defensive run after acquiring Doncic.
In his first playoff series, though, Redick was out-coached by Chris Finch and his Lakers were ousted by the Minnesota Timberwolves in five games. Now, Finch had jokes to say about Redick and the amount of sports podcasters there are in the media landscape today, during a live taping of Zach Lowe’s podcast:
Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch on podcasting:
"I bet you 3/4 of these people are gonna go home and do a podcast tonight… I mean, it'll qualify you to coach the Lakers." 😭
(via @ZachLowe_NBA)pic.twitter.com/KJPdpoKXjB
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) November 14, 2025
While this clip could easily be construed as Finch taking a shot at Redick, it’s important to remember that the two have a relationship going back to the latter’s time as a player. Redick was on the New Orleans Pelicans from 2019-21, when Finch was an assistant coach there as well.
In all likelihood, this is just a friend playfully jabbing at another friend, especially knowing the respect they have for one another from their playoff series last season. The two have already faced off two more times this season, with the Lakers winning both games.
JJ Redick: Lakers need to course correct after 1-2 start to road trip
The Lakers were served a dish of humble pie on Wednesday night as they were blown out by the defensive champion Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Lakers came into the night with an impressive 8-3 record despite numerous key players missing time, but they had no chance against the Thunder from the jump.
After the loss, head coach JJ Redick broke down what went wrong for the Lakers on both ends of the court, and said that while there’s no reason to be overly concerned with their record still at 8-4, he knows they need to get some things fixed.
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