The Lakers have found a new head coach, but there was one player who was “heavily involved” in the process — and it wasn’t who you’d expect.
JJ Redick was hired as the new Lakers coach on Thursday, but he didn’t get his new job thanks to his podcast co-host, LeBron James.
During his introductory press conference on Monday, Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka revealed that Anthony Davis played a large role in the recruiting and that James was “very supportive” of the process.
“LeBron was very supportive of our recruiting process but chose not to be too heavily involved, and we respected that” – Rob Pelinka on how the “Mind the Game” podcast influenced the hiring of JJ Redick. pic.twitter.com/Xgi62vVFV4
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 24, 2024
“Regarding this coaching search and the involvement of the captains in the coaching process…”[James] “He’s been very supportive of our organization in this process,” Pelinka said, “and that’s a different word than the word engaged, and I want to be careful with that word over the word engaged. Again, LeBron has been very supportive of us and our process, but he chose not to get deeply involved and we respected that.”
“Anthony Davis, the other captain, chose to be actively involved and was actively involved,” Pelinka added. “I talked with him throughout the entire process and got a lot of help and wisdom from him, and he was very excited for today.”
James and Redick were friends through their work as hosts of the “Mind the Game” podcast, but it had previously been reported that the Lakers superstar would not take sides.
Redick has no professional coaching experience, but he has worked as an analyst for ESPN, calling NBA Finals games with the network’s primary broadcast team of Mike Breen and Doris Burke.
Redick played 15 seasons in the NBA and was a star collegiate player at Duke University.
The former player was offered the position after University of Connecticut coach Dan Hurley turned down a six-year, $70 million contract from Los Angeles to remain at the helm of the school’s basketball program, where he won back-to-back national championships.
