All Signs Are Pointing To JJ Redick Getting Hired As The Next Coach Of The Lakers And Rumors Are He's Already Calling Assistant Coach Candidates
I decided to write this blog as the premier (only) Lakers fan that roams these parts because I don't think I can stand the potential glaze fest from someone like Greenie or Reags writing this. All respect to my robotic basketball bloggers, but my suspicion is that they'd call this a home run hire, maybe say something like "of course LeBron gets what he wants" followed by a 3 paragraph tirade about how tired they are of him but he's on their mind 24/7, and then some blurb about Bronny. So here's real thoughts from an actual Lakers fan who usually writes for numbies but sometimes you gotta take one for the team.
Listen, JJ might end up being a home run hire. It's impossible to know for an ex-player who I would say has above average basketball IQ and how he'd translate to being a coach. Recency bias from someone like Steve Nash tells me it's more likely to fail than succeed, but guys like Steve Kerr, Mark Jackson, and Doc Rivers (ha) probably show it's not always a dud. Call me crazy, but I'd rather take a guy who knows the organization like Phil Handy even though they just fired the entirety of the assistant coaching staff.
The best case scenario is that it somewhat works, and JJ coaches for a few years before going elsewhere. The worst case is that we're stuck in the same revolving web of getting a new coach every few years, never building an actual culture or having a stable organization, and being a joke franchise despite the fact we should be one of the most attractive teams in all of professional sports.
And if we're being honest, I'm not sure I want a guy who would want near-grandpa age Chris Paul around to run a PnR with AD:
We were already called the retirement home Lakers a few years ago and CP3 joining the fold (vet min or not) is not something I want to see. Unless somehow JJ has changed his opinion on CP3 in a year. We're in win now mode with a few years left, if we're lucky, of LeBron and AD and we're gonna take a coach with no experience? Can't get worse than Darvin Ham, but then again, can it?
With this looming and a potential Celtics championship this season, I may venture to say that we're headed back to 2013-18 Lakers era of nothing but pure pain. No better time for this graphic below than now.
