Going into the summer of 2024, the Los Angeles Lakers knew they need to find the right head coach who could lead the team for many years after firing Darvin Ham. And June 24, 2024, the franchise found their guy as the Lakers hired JJ Redick to serve as the team’s new head coach.
This hiring surprised many and came with a ton of questions as Redick had no head coaching experience at any level. The Lakers bring about more pressure and attention than any other franchise in the NBA, and that’s before adding in everything that comes along with having LeBron James on the roster.
But Redick proved himself up to the challenge in his first season as the Lakers won 50 games and finished as the third seed in an extremely competitive Western Conference. Along the way, he was able to show off his outstanding ability to game plan as the Lakers were able to pick up some big wins against top teams throughout the year.
At just 40 years old at the time of the hire, Redick could very well be the man on the Lakers bench for decades into the future. He was a risky hire without a doubt, but he is showing that he is up to any challenge brought his way and the Lakers seem to have found the right man for this job.
JJ Redick says his feelings weren’t hurt at Lakers’ pursuit of UConn’s Dan Hurley
JJ Redick wasn’t the Lakers’ first choice in their coaching search as the team openly pursued UConn head coach Dan Hurley, who was coming off back-to-back National Championships with the Huskies. Hurley chose to stay where he was at, leading to the Lakers turning back to Redick, who had no problems at all with the franchise initially going after Hurley.
“I want to follow up on something Rob just was talking about. And that’s, you know, when the process was going on and we first met in Chicago. I was getting ready to call Game 1 of the NBA Finals when the Dan Hurley news broke,” Redick said. “And Rob was quick to call me. We had a great conversation. During that whole four-day period, at no point was my ego or feelings hurt or bruised in any way. Dan Hurley is a two-time national champion at UConn. I am a two-time 55 Swish League champion in the third and fourth grade division. Like, I understood, you know? I understood.”
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