On Thursday, the Los Angeles Lakers made a huge move, hiring ESPN analyst JJ Redick to be their next head coach.
Redick, who’s never coached before, will join the Lakers and be signed on for the next four years.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski broke the news of Redick’s hire.
“JJ Redick has agreed on a four-year contract to become the next coach of the Los Angeles Lakers,” Wojnarowski posted on X, the website formerly known as Twitter.
ESPN Sources: JJ Redick has agreed on a four-year contract to become the next coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. Rob Pelinka offered job this morning and Redickβs started working on a staff to surround himself with experience. pic.twitter.com/G66eVFRALp
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 20, 2024
While Redick was a superstar in college and had a lengthy NBA career, doubt and skepticism remain on his coaching prowess. The team’s decision to hire Redick received plenty of skepticism with some criticism mixed in on Thursday afternoon. But also, there were optimistic Laker fans out there too.
I always get a kick out of a team hiring a head coach with zero coaching experience, and then decide to hire a bunch of experienced assistant coaches. https://t.co/pFw9NDOFWM
β rolandsmartin (@rolandsmartin) June 20, 2024
The Lakers fired Darvin Ham who had no head coaching experience just to spin back and hire a dude with no coaching experience at all pic.twitter.com/HjynG9FxdC
β πππ« (@HoodiiBron) June 20, 2024
JJ Redick after the Lakers go 0-8 from the 3 in the 1st quarter pic.twitter.com/wPcqSofZJt
β NBA Memes (@NBAMemes) June 20, 2024
FROM PODCASTER TO COACH
LETS PROVE THE HATERS WRONG pic.twitter.com/dRx0Sk9piR
β Lakers Lead (@LakersLead) June 20, 2024
Lakers got a coach players want to play for https://t.co/jJLve2Cek8 pic.twitter.com/27zHv4GIXa
β π« (@NewMediaSports_) June 20, 2024
This will likely be debated for a while, so don’t expect this noise to stop.