JJ Redick is the next head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers and the list of media members rushing to explain why this move will fail is growing rapidly.
WFAN’s Gregg Giannotti joined a list that includes the likes of Nick Wright, Kendrick Perkins, Michael Wilbon and Stephen A. Smith Friday morning by questioning the Lakers’ decision to pluck Redick from the media and make him their head coach.
“This is destined for failure.” – Boomer Esiason on the Lakers hiring JJ Redick pic.twitter.com/PMx4jRum4S
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 21, 2024
“After the Dan Hurley courting that didn’t work out for the Lakers, they do end up hiring JJ Redick,” Giannotti told his WFAN co-host Boomer Esiason. “Who does the podcast with LeBron, who has been on ESPN complaining about how everybody’s got hot takes and, ‘All I want to do is talk basketball,’ and ‘I’m an X’s and O’s guy,’ and ‘You guys are making all this stuff up.’ He’s gotten into it with a ton of people, including Mad Dog Russo on First Take, and then he does this X’s and O’s basketball podcast with LeBron James, so now he’s going to be the Lakers head coach.
“And it’s just stupid to me to hire these guys who have never had coaching experience in a pressurized situation where they have to win. If they end up winning it’s going to be because Rob Pelinka goes out and puts better players around Anthony Davis and LeBron James.”
Seems like a fair concern. The Lakers have a veteran team in a win-now mode even though they don’t exactly have a win-now roster, and they’re combatting that with a rookie head coach?
Redick was a successful NBA player and a blossoming NBA analyst, but he has never worked on an NBA coaching staff or in an NBA front office. He has, however, coached his son’s youth basketball team. But managing LeBron James probably represents a different challenge than coaching his son and a roster of kids.
“Is JJ Redick, who played in the league, going to be able to stand in front of these guys and be able to manage those personalities like Steve Kerr did?” Giannotti asked. “I’m going to say no, just because I feel like he’s a, kind of like a – for lack of a better word – a prick.”
And with that, Redick becomes the latest First Take contributor to get the penis label in some form by Giannotti. Earlier this year, Giannotti called Ryan Clark a “d***” from their time in Pittsburgh together.
Redick has certainly shown himself to be combative on First Take. Which in his defense, is a show that evokes and even demands that type of behavior. Redick has also proven to be sensitive to criticism at times as a member of the media, firing back at trolls and hot takes while repeatedly attempting to expose the sports TV game. And let’s not forget about the backward hat Colin Cowherd caught him wearing.
Maybe that’s not behavior worthy of the penis label, but it also probably isn’t credentials worthy of leading a pro sports locker room. And if you don’t want to take that criticism from Giannotti, take it from someone who’s been in a pro sports locker room.
“I hope JJ does well … but this is destined for failure, you would think,” Esiason added. “All indications and all history, 95 percent of situations like this end up in failure.”
[WFAN]
