RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Many people were skeptical when the Los Angeles Lakers hired JJ Redick to be head coach two years ago. At the time, he had no coaching experience of any type at either the pro or college levels, and he had also been the co-host for LeBron James' "Mind the Game" podcast, which led to accusations that the franchise was merely placating or even caving in to James.
But since then, Redick has proven to be a competent NBA coach. He may not end up winning a Coach of the Year award, but he has guided the Lakers to back-to-back 50-plus-win seasons, and in both of those campaigns, they have had home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
Redick has an image of being overly emotional and acting like he's the smartest man in the room. But according to assistant Lindsey Harding, he is open to input and is even willing to admit when he's wrong, via the "Road Trippin'" podcast.
“He does not move with an ego.” Harding said. “If you are a video person and have a great idea, ‘Let’s hear it!’ I had an opportunity to coach summer league. Something I wanted to do, he gave me that opportunity. When he gives you a task, he trusts that you’re gonna do it and he supports you.
“And why I say the no ego, if he messes up or wish he made a different decision, he will say it. There’s no trying to hide it, it’s ‘My bad. I’m gonna do better.’ He’s amazing. Super intelligent, understands the game and I think the biggest thing is he’s a people person. Good with people, managing people. That’s huge in this space. You can be a great coach, but there’s a lot of different personalities. He’s really good at that and he gets a lot of respect because he’s JJ Redick and he’s done it on the floor.”
One thing Redick has shown the ability to do is put together defensive game plans against prominent teams and stars while also making defensive adjustments. It has helped L.A. get wins against difficult teams such as the Denver Nuggets, Boston Celtics, New York Knicks and Houston Rockets over the last two years while neutralizing players such as Nikola Jokic, Jayson Tatum, Jalen Brunson and Kevin Durant.
In last season's first round of the playoffs against the Rockets, Durant only played in Game 2, but in that contest, the Lakers harassed him into committing nine turnovers while holding him to 1-of-5 field-goal shooting in the second half. They won that game, 101-94, and took the series in six.
This coming season, Redick will have a more balanced roster, offensively and perhaps even defensively, to work with. He will therefore have the opportunity to truly prove he's a quality coach, especially now that James has departed to join the Philadelphia 76ers.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Lindsey Harding on coach JJ Redick: 'He does not move with an ego'
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