Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick gestures during the first half of a preseason NBA basketball game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, in Palm Desert, California. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
PALM DESERT, California — JJ Redick knows his personal intensity will always turn him into his own harshest critic if he isn’t careful, so he vowed to give himself some grace in his self-evaluation as the Los Angeles Lakers ‘ new head coach.
One game into the preseason, Redick is already testing his tolerance for his own mistakes after the Lakers failed to make proper defensive switches Friday night against Minnesota.
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“We just didn’t really execute that at all,” Redick said Saturday after practice in the Coachella Valley. “We maybe executed it less than 10% of the time. Something we’ve drilled, and it was very clear in the pregame meeting that’s what we were doing, so you certainly question, like, ‘Am I not making this clear? Is it something I’m doing?’”
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Redick is comfortable acknowledging both his immediate frustration and his broader awareness that this epic journey has only started.
Just over three months into his first coaching job at any level, Redick is still drinking from a firehose of information, responsibilities and nuances — everything from play designs to the intricacies of personnel management. But while his mind whirls every day with thoughts on how to implement the basketball vision he’s been building in his mind, the 40-year-old former NBA guard is also determined to enjoy the ride of his first season with LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
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“I would say what we have tried to create is an energy and a vibe in the gym every day,” Redick said right before training camp began. “I would call it focused joy, if that makes sense. We’re grateful every day to be in this gym.”
New boss, new results
Redick is installing detailed schemes on offense and defense. He’s gathering a mountain of analytic data. He’s also still learning the coaching basics, like how to challenge calls and when to call timeouts — although he’s getting plenty of support in that area from longtime NBA head coaches Nate McMillan and Scott Brooks, his top two assistants.
The Lakers kept almost the same roster from last year’s team, which finished eighth in the NBA Western Conference and lost to Denver in the first round of the postseason under Darvin Ham, so Redick is supposed to be the change that leads to success.
So far, his players appear to be buying into the Lakers’ audacious experiment.
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“The whole structure and foundation these coaches have brought in for us is a great start,” Austin Reaves said. “Because I feel like a lot of times last year we won games off talent. And when you have talent around structure, then you have the opportunity to do something really special.”
Even while D’Angelo Russell was on the golf course after practice last week, he couldn’t stop thinking about a particular play drawn up by Redick that was entirely new to the veteran point guard.
“So I sent JJ a little voice note kind of thanking him,” Russell said. “I’d never seen it (before). I’m not trying to hype it up, but I thanked him for showing me that. I saw him getting into his bag right there, and it’s exciting.”
Basketball sickos only
The Lakers have redoubled their commitment to player development under Redick after the coach made it clear to general manager Rob Pelinka during the hiring process that he thought every NBA team could get more out of its talent. The development system will be dedicated to improving the Lakers’ youngsters, most prominently second-round pick Bronny James.
Redick and the Lakers are embracing analytics as well, tracking how much players run during practice and installing cameras and backboard sensors to analyze workouts at the training complex.
“One thing that was non-negotiable was that everyone we hired was a sicko, a basketball sicko,” Redick said of his staff.
Redick has repeatedly mentioned “efficiency” as a key factor in his coaching approach. He likes quick, information-packed team meetings and brisk practices that start on time and end on time.
This focus is clearly a carryover from his playing career. Redick knows a player’s average attention span because he was a player just three years ago, and he wants to cram maximal growth into minimal time.
Redick even agreed to LeBron James’s suggestion that the Lakers should have a DJ at practice, allowing DJ Meel to set up shop in a corner of the training complex’s gym last week.
“He was a really good player, so before the coaching and stuff, we just respected him as a player,” Rui Hachimura said. “I played against him — it’s crazy — like two or three years ago. I remember that. So we understand his philosophy and what he’s talking about and stuff. It’s easy for us to understand.”
Long road ahead
Redick’s life has been on fast-forward ever since he got the Lakers’ top job, surprising most of the sports world and thrilling basketball wonks who loved his cerebral approach to the game expressed on his podcasts and in his broadcasting career.
His family had been settled and happy in Brooklyn after Redick’s playing retirement in 2021, and he had to combine his new job with another cross-country move with his wife and two children.
While the preseason has just begun, Redick’s ideas are already surfacing: On the opening possession Friday, the Lakers ran a play featuring a skip pass that looked an awful lot like one of the fundamental tenets of the UConn offense run by Dan Hurley, who famously turned down the Lakers’ ardent advances before Redick’s hiring.
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“The anxiety that people may assume I’m having is around how my team is going to perform,” Redick said. “I think we’ve mentioned the word ‘preparation,’ and once you’ve invested a lot in preparation, you just have to accept that, and then it becomes, ‘I want to see how my team does against another team.’ … I’m not going to be perfect. I think the preparation and attempt to get buy-in from my guys is the focus.”
