The Los Angeles Lakers are enjoying a meteoric rise to the top of the Western Conference after coming to terms with the aftershock of the Luka Doncic trade. While the Purple and Gold recently lost to the Boston Celtics, the exciting brand of basketball they’re playing with LeBron James and Luka Doncic at the helm is delighting every hoops fan in Tinseltown.
While the Lakers may have a team that can help them win their first title since 2020, Rob Pelinka’s impressive roster-building capabilities aren’t the only thing that helped LA return to the conversation as title contenders.
JJ Redick has done a marvelous job leading the Lakers into an impressive season. The doubts surrounding him when he took the hot seat last summer have fizzled after he transformed the Lakers into an exciting basketball team for fans to watch. Even the fact that the Lakers have plenty of injuries to deal with currently doesn’t seem as alarming with him at the sidelines.
However, the former podcaster revealed that he did something interesting before taking his first NBA head-coaching job.
JJ Redick reveals talking to Sean McVay before joining the Los Angeles Lakers
It was inevitable that Redick’s on-court success would be compared to Sean McVay, another head coach of another LA-based team in the Rams. Both were considered exciting young coaches when they first joined their respective teams.
Redick talked about the comparison and his interaction with Super Bowl LVI winner, as reported by Lakers Nation’s Matthew Valento:
“First of all comparisons is the thief of joy and I love Sean,” Redick said. “He is actually someone I talked to a bunch before I took this job. Unfortunately, we’ve both been busy and have not been able to connect. His season started and then my season started. I think as a coach, as a player during the season, I had a constant baseline level of edge and anxiety and fear and just competitive spirit. Like, it was everyday, all day, even on off days, it was just there. All that stuff is there as a coach, I think there is a paranoia as a coach.
“I was trying to explain this to my brother, who’s in town this week and I was trying to explain to him after the game the other night. It’s just like, the game ends and when you win and it’s immediately to, ‘Man, we could have done this better.’ Or, ‘Man, we are going to get exposed on this.’ Whether it’s realistic or not, I don’t know. But, it’s that constant paranoia that’s always there as a coach.”
Having someone to relate to about the stresses of such a cutthroat job must have been delightful for Redick, and the comparisons would just intensify if he manages to lead this year’s Lakers to an NBA title.
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