Has JJ Redick already taken the Los Angeles Lakers’ head coaching job?
One of his colleagues at ESPN — or perhaps now-former colleague — seems to think so.
During Tuesday’s episode of Get Up, Jay Williams discussed the Boston Celtics surpassing the Lakers for the most NBA championships in league history with their 18th title. And in addition to stating his belief that the Celtics and Lakers “couldn’t be further apart” as franchises currently, the ESPN analyst also seemingly let it slip that Redick is headed to Los Angeles to coach LeBron James and the Lakers.
“You have the Los Angeles Lakers who are trying to figure it out with JJ Redick, a first-time head coach,” Williams said. “We wish him all the best of luck with LeBron James in his twilight years.”
Does Jay Williams know something we don’t yet?
“You have the Los Angeles Lakers who are trying to figure it out with JJ Redick, a first-time head coach, we wish him all the best of luck.” pic.twitter.com/cRq4Majbob
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 18, 2024
It’s unclear whether Williams merely forgot to add any qualifiers to his statement or if he actually has inside info that his fellow Duke alum has already accepted the Lakers’ job. Either explanation would be understandable, as Redick has seemingly been the frontrunner for Los Angeles’ head coaching vacancy dating back to the Lakers’ firing of Darvin Ham following their elimination in the first round of the NBA Playoffs.
While the Lakers’ pursuit of UConn head coach Dan Hurley — who may or may not have actually been interested in the job — provided a brief detour, Los Angeles’ head coaching search now appears to be fully focused on Redick, who has no formal coaching experience, but does host an Xs and Os podcast with James. Now that Redick’s responsibilities calling the NBA Finals for ESPN have ended, it appears to be a matter of not “if” but “when” he’ll become the Lakers’ new head coach.
And based on Williams’ comment, “when” may have already happened.
