Former Lakers MVP Preaches Fan Patience For JJ Redick's Debut Season

The 15-year NBA shooting guard has never coached beyond the peewee level.

Jun 24, 2024; El Segundo, CA, USA; The Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick speaks to the media during an introductory news conference at the UCLA Health Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Los Angeles Lakers team vice president of basketball operations/general manager Rob Pelinka oversaw the third head coaching hire (and fourth head coach) of his front office career with the Purple and Gold this summer, ditching ex-head coach Darvin Ham after just two seasons in favor of former 15-year shooting guard-turned-ESPN/ABC analyst JJ Redick. Coincidentally (okay, not really), Redick also co-hosted the short-lived "Mind The Game" podcast with the Lakers' most important player, 20-time All-NBA combo forward LeBron James.

A Lakers legend, former three-time MVP, five-time champion and 12-time All-Star point guard Magic Johnson, appears to be cautiously optimistic about Redick's long-term fit in his new role. Redick, 40, has never served as a head coach or assistant coach at the NBA or NCAA or even high school level.

Redick is tasked with improving Los Angeles from a good-not-great 2023-24 run. Stars James and All-NBA Second Team center Anthony Davis both added All-NBA and All-Star appearances to their CV's (as well as an All-Defensive Team for Davis) and the club finished with a 47-35 record, better than its 43-39 run in 2022-23 that ended with a Western Conference Finals appearance. The 2023-24 vintage wasn't quite so lucky, finishing with the eighth-best record in the league but the seventh seed, thanks to a play-in tournament game victory over the 49-33 New Orleans Pelicans to leapfrog that squad in the West standings.

During a new sitdown with Sports Central LA's Jim Hill, Johnson asked fans to give Redick significant leeway during his inaugural season as an NBA coach.

Magic Johnson has a message for @Lakers fans when it comes to JJ Redick, LeBron James and Anthony Davis this season. More from @MagicJohnson with #JimHill at 5:45/10:45 @kcalnews #Lakers pic.twitter.com/4LV40ccLPY

— Sports Central LA (@SportsCentralLA) August 29, 2024

“We as Lakers fans gotta give JJ Redick, our new coach, some time to really help him understand how to utilize the talent, how to coach the talent, and then also what schemes will work, and what schemes won’t work," Johnson noted. "Because this is not going to be easy for him. But I think having LeBron as your captain (helps) and one of the greatest that’s ever laced them up in AD, and they showed Laker fans and basketball fans around the world what they’re capable of doing in the Olympics.”

James and Davis both looked like two of the best players in the 2024 Paris Olympic games. James earned tournament MVP honors, while Davis very clearly outplayed Philadelphia 76ers MVP center Joel Embiid, Team USA's starting five. The Americans won their fifth consecutive gold medal at the event.

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