Generally speaking, JJ Redick did a fine job in his first season as the Los Angeles Lakers’ head coach. He was hired last June despite not having any experience at either the pro or college levels, and the fact that he was a rookie coach, along with the fact that he had co-hosted the “Mind the Game” podcast with LeBron James, led many to criticize the hiring.
But he kept the team in one piece through several slumps and a revamping of its roster and style of play this season. Los Angeles finished third in the Western Conference, which was a much higher finish than expected, and while it lost in five games in the first round of the NBA playoffs to the Minnesota Timberwolves, its immediate future seems pretty bright.
After Game 5 of the Minnesota series, Redick reflected on his season and also showed a bit of humility when he mentioned what’s next for him as a coach.
Via NBA.com:
“I’ve always felt like a team is a living organism,” he explained. “And that season, you’ve got to feed the organism, and you hope that it’s healthy. Certainly, every organism has some chronic issues, and you try to address those. Then when you come in after the season, it feels like a funeral. It feels like the death of that organism. In a moment of reflection this morning, I think that’s the sad part and the disappointing part. We wanted this group to have an opportunity to play for a championship. We didn’t deliver on that.
“As a player, I can remember vividly, a season ending in the playoffs. You get on the plane, flight back, it’s quiet. You’re writing down everything you want to be better at. That’s no different as a coach. That’s where my mind goes today, immediately. It’s, ‘How can I be better?’ I’m going to take a lot of time, and thankfully, this offseason I have more time than last offseason to really self-evaluate, listen to my coaching staff, listen to players, listen to feedback from RP (Rob Pelinka) and figure out ways I can be better and ways I can help get us closer to that ultimate goal of hanging Banner 18.”
Redick has brought a new emphasis on detail, organization and data to a Lakers organization that had been criticized for being behind the times when it came to analytics. While it does need a starting-caliber center and better guard and wing depth, it now has a championship-caliber core for the first time since 2021.
In Redick, it also may have a championship-caliber head coach.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: JJ Redick reflects on his first season as the Lakers’ head coach
Reporting by Robert Marvi, LeBron Wire / LeBron Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
