Lakers hire podcaster as head coach; is Draymond Green next?

Hello, JJ.

At long last, the Los Angeles Lakers dramatic search for yet another head coach has come to an end. And no, it’s not a former Golden State Warriors head coach this time, like it was with Luke Walton all those years ago. No, this time the Lakers have hired the player they’ve been linked to for months: JJ Redick.

The long-since-unofficial news officially broke on Thursday that the Lakers had hired Redick to a four-year deal, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Redick had been considered the frontrunner for the job until the Lakers took an unexpected pivot, offering a massive contract to UConn head coach Dan Hurley who, after a public deliberation, declined the opportunity and chose to chase an NCAA threepeat. And then the Lakers returned to Redick.

While he’s never coached before (that didn’t seem to matter for Steve Kerr), Redick has a strong resume. He spent 15 years in the NBA as a player, where he was always known for having a high basketball IQ. He’s played for some of the smartest and most respected coaches alive, including Mike Krzyzewski while at Duke, and Stan Van Gundy, Rick Carlisle, and Doc Rivers in the NBA. Since concluding his career after the 2020-21 season, Redick has gone into broadcasting, serving as one of the main voices for ESPN’s NBA coverage.

It’s also probably important to note that Redick has a podcast with Lakers star LeBron James? Coincidence? I think not.

Anyway, the real meat of the story is that the Lakers hired a podcaster to be their next head coach, which would seem to set up Draymond Green for a career roaming the sidelines when he hangs up his Nikes. Just hopefully not with the Lakers.