Lakers ‘Intrigued’ By 15-Year NBA Veteran, LeBron James’ Associate As Next Coach

The Los Angeles Lakers are starting all over again. After another missed chance to win a championship, the storied franchise decided to rebuild the team, starting from the coaching position. Darvin Ham is no longer their head coach and they have a big void to fill. The Lakers are already looking for all potential head coach candidates and a LeBron James associate is definitely on their list.

This may come as a surprise to all, but J.J. Redick is one of the targets. Adrian Wojnarowski from ESPN reported that the former NBA player and current ESPN analyst is a candidate for the head coach vacancy.

“Their search is gonna ramp up this week, I’m told. [GM Rob] Pelinka, the Lakers front office, they’ll be in Chicago for the league’s draft combine. You can expect them to start calling for permission to talk to coaches around the league, assistants,” Wojnarowski reported. “But one name that the Lakers have been drilling down on in their initial research here — J.J. Reddick, our colleague at ESPN. He is certainly somebody that the Lakers are intrigued with. They’ve been making a lot of calls to try to learn more about him. But expect this to be a wide-ranging and a lengthy search.”

"One name that the Lakers have been drilling down on in their initial research here: JJ Redick, our colleague at ESPN. He is certainly somebody that the Lakers are intrigued with." – @wojespn 👀 pic.twitter.com/CChlnokWxY

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 11, 2024

Lakers and LeBron wouldn’t mind having Redick as the next head coach

Redick was winning games for 15 years. He made a few stops in the NBA, spending time with the Orlando Magic, Los Angeles Clippers, Philadelphia 76ers, New Orleans Pelicans, Milwaukee Bucks, and Dallas Mavericks. He announced his retirement after spending a season with the Mavericks. Redick has career averages of 12.8 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists per game. He was also a career 41.5% 3-point shooter on 5 attempts per game.

Redick started 488 of the 940 games he played, averaging 25.5 minutes per game. He evolved into an excellent contributor to any team he played on. Redick and the 2009 Magic team defeated LeBron’s Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals and played the NBA Finals against the Lakers. He didn’t win a title back then as the Lakers got the best of the Finals.

LeBron and Redick host a podcast, “Mind the Game,” and many believe that this connection has actually increased his chances to grab the job.