Los Angeles Lakers president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka took a big swing last offseason when he hired JJ Redick to be the team’s head coach. Redick had no professional coaching experience and is the same age as LeBron James, which led media personalities to quickly disparage the decision by L.A.
But in less than one full season, Redick has more than proven himself as not only a legitimate head coach, but one that sits in the top half of the league at the very least. He has commanded the respect of his players — including LeBron — and has always had them prepared for challenging matchups and opponents throughout the season.
Prior to Game 2, a night that saw Redick and the Lakers make major adjustments to even the series with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Pelinka got the chance to speak about the head coaching hire and why he’s such a fan of Redick, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“You know, JJ has a combination of humility and swag. And that’s a really hard thing, because you need to be humble for the guys to love you — and our players love JJ — but then he’s got that confident air about him where he’s very decisive in his decision-making. Those are rare qualities in a coach, especially a rookie coach. So we appreciate his leadership.”
The Lakers have had an entirely different air about them since bringing in Redick. The tone of players’ postgame interviews changed drastically with Redick at the helm. Under the previous head coach, Darvin Ham, players would often talk about not feeling prepared, and it was clear that there was a rift between staff and the players.
But under Redick, even after losses, players were quick to defend him and say that they failed to execute the gameplan, not that there wasn’t one to begin with. And it’s that type of confidence in leadership that has made Redick so successful in Year 1 at the helm.
While the Lakers are currently focused on their first-round series against the Minnesota Timberwolves, off the court, they recently signed Pelinka to a contract extension.
Not only did Pelinka receive an extension, but he was promoted to president of basketball operations in addition to his general manager title.
Pelinka has been a member of the Lakers family for a while having been Kobe Bryant’s agent, and while he is excited about this extension, he knows there is more work to be done.
