JJ Redick is officially the next head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, and Nick Wright has legitimate concerns about the hire.
Wright never understood why Redick wanted to work in sports media while routinely complaining about the industry, and he doesn’t appear to understand why the Lakers were so enamored with their new head coach, considering he has no coaching experience.
Nick Wright says JJ Redick has “as thin of a coaching resume as any coach that’s ever taken the job in modern NBA history.” pic.twitter.com/3glXFdlMaA
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 20, 2024
“It would be unfair of me to say JJ Redick’s not going to be a good head coach,” Wright said shortly after the Redick news broke. “Just like it would be unfair of me to say he’s going to be a good head coach because he is being hired with…as thin of a coaching resume as any coach that’s ever taken the job in modern NBA history. Because it couldn’t be thinner.”
It’s official: debating Stephen A. Smith is not a credential worthy of NBA head coaching consideration. Redick was an NBA player and an NBA analyst, but he has never worked on an NBA staff or in an NBA front office. He has, however, coached his son’s youth basketball team. But even with that lack of experience, Wright is more concerned about Redick’s ability to coach the Lakers.
“My biggest concern with JJ, honestly, is he appears to me to be very, very online and very, very aware of criticism of himself,” Wright said. “And I think that can be a real detriment if you’re the head coach of a basketball team?”
“In L.A.? You can’t have rabbit ears,” Chris Broussard agreed on First Things First, prompting Wright to reiterate the head coach of the Lakers can’t be too sensitive to criticism.
Redick has certainly proven to be very online and aware of his critics. He’s responded to social media trolls criticizing something he said on First Take, and he’s ripped basketball fans by questioning whether they want to be educated. That’s fine as a podcast host and media member, but it might not bode well as the head coach of the Lakers. Although it certainly will create some interesting press conference exchanges.
Wright also questioned the assumption that LeBron James wanted the Lakers to make this hire, claiming that doing their Mind the Game podcast together doesn’t automatically indicate that he wants Redick to be his head coach.
We’re undervaluing LeBron’s clout in Los Angeles if we think any part of him might be against this hire. LeBron probably didn’t launch the podcast because he was looking to get Redick hired as the next head coach of the Lakers. But it’s pretty safe to assume he’s in favor of the hire after talking Xs and Os with Redick for a few months. It’s also safe to assume that if LeBron didn’t want Redick to be the next head coach of the Lakers, then Redick wouldn’t be the next head coach of the Lakers.
