The Los Angeles Lakers’ hiring of ESPN NBA broadcaster JJ Redick has sparked much debate as to how Redick’s tenure will go considering he has no prior experience coaching at any level above grade school. And on FS1’s First Things First Friday, Nick Wright and Chris Broussard shared all the reasons why they believe the partnership will not work.
Wright has openly criticized the Lakers’ decision numerous times since the move was made official, saying on Thursday’s edition of the show that Redick has “as thin of a coaching resume as any coach that’s ever taken the job in modern NBA history.”
On Friday, Wright broke down his negative opinions on Redick as a head coach even more, likening the move to the Indianapolis Colts hiring Jeff Saturday as an interim head coach in the middle of the 2022 NFL season.
“Someone brought this up to me yesterday and I thought it was a good point,” said Wright. “Why has JJ not gotten the Jeff Saturday treatment?”
Chris Broussard immediately pushed back against this comparison, saying that he believes that football is far harder to coach than basketball at the highest level.
“Football is different,” Broussard said. “It is the hardest of the three major sports to coach. The coach is much more of a factor into success. I can not imagine, and I don’t know why the Colts did, how anyone could go from never coaching to coaching in the NFL.”
"Since Bird, there's been 9 coaches hired without prior head coaching experience. The only one who won more than ONE playoff series with the team that hired them was Steve Kerr."
— @getnickwright pic.twitter.com/ptvHMYoq9Z
— First Things First (@FTFonFS1) June 21, 2024
For those who are unaware of the Saturday signing, it was an extremely bizarre move that the Colts made after firing Frank Reich after Week 9 of the 2022 regular season. At the time, Saturday served as an analyst for ESPN on NFL Live.
The move ended up being a complete disaster, as the Colts finished the season with a 1-7 record. Saturday then returned to ESPN after the Colts moved on to current head coach Shane Steichen the following offseason.
It’s certainly a bit unfair to liken these two scenarios for a few reasons. Saturday was largely set up for failure, entering his coaching tenure on a Colts team that was essentially a sinking ship two seasons ago.
Redick will have an entire offseason to prepare for his coaching debut. He also joins a prestigious organization with veterans like LeBron James (should he decide to stay) and Anthony Davis who will help him get up to speed quickly.
But still, Redick certainly has an uphill battle on his hands to experience success in his first coaching tenure with no prior experience under his belt.
Wright referenced an X post on the show from Sportico reporter Lev Akabas, which shows that essentially every NBA head coach with no prior experience in the last 25 years aside from Steve Kerr has experienced little to no postseason success in their first stop as a head coach.
The last 12 NBA head coaches with no prior experience were very hit or miss
How do you think JJ Redick will do with the @Lakers? pic.twitter.com/WYwo6szoxS
— Lev Akabas (@LevAkabas) June 21, 2024
