Report: ESPN’s JJ Redick ‘viewed as favorite’ for Lakers job

Will JJ Redick coach the Los Angeles Lakers? Ever since rumours out of Tinseltown started rummaging that Redick, the former college basketball superstar at Duke who went on to a 16-year NBA career and now significant work as an ESPN analyst, would potentially be next in line to coach the illustrious Lakers. It’s a high-pressure job in a high-pressure town, but that didn’t seem to scare away the rumors that he could be next for the position.

The skepticism from pundits around the country also hasn’t appeared to put a significant damper on things. In fact, as the wheels keep spinning, Redick’s name only grows with more prominence. According to a new report this week, those wheels might be further along than we think.

A Los Angeles Times report published late this week says that NBA sources are viewing Redick as “the favorite” for the vacant Lakers coaching job.

“Following the dismissal of Darvin Ham, the team began researching a batch of candidates that included top assistants, former head coaches, and yes, broadcaster-podcaster JJ Redick. Candidate interviews are close, but as of now, anything being discussed with certainty has been called ‘hypothetical’ by candidates involved in the process.

“But despite what the Lakers are saying, many around the league view Redick as the favorite and offered varying levels of approval,” longtime LA Times writer Dan Woike wrote.

This would be Redick’s first coaching or league office job of any kind. Hiring broadcasters to be a coach isn’t unheard of (in fact, it’s part of why Redick is in the booth to begin with). But in the case of someone like, say, Steve Kerr, he had held a front office job with the Phoenix Suns before becoming the head coach of the Golden State Warriors.

It takes a lot to coach. Situations like these in the past have had varying degrees of success. Should the Lakers hire Redick, that will make for an interesting move that will have ripple effects in the league and out.

[LA Times]