Sources from every corner of the internet announced that the Lakers signed JJ Redick, who played in the NBA for 15 years, to a four-year deal last Thursday, providing him with his first league coaching job in any capacity. Now, letโs talk about the elephant in the room: did LeBron James play a part in the signing of the former player?
According to many reports, the oldest athlete in the NBA was uninvolved in the hiring process of the purple and goldโs new tactician, as the superstar had โno conversationโ with the franchiseโs front office regarding this decision.
โThere was no conversation between LeBron James and Jeanie Buss or Rob Pelinka or Kurt Rambis or anybody else when it comes to the Lakersโ decision-makers about JJ Redick as a candidate, about Dan Hurley as a candidate, about anybody else as a candidate,โ said Dave McMenamin said on ESPNโs SportsCenter.
BREAKING: LeBron James and JJ Redick are coming out with their own podcast โMind The Gameโ and it drops tomorrow. ๐ฅ
๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฅ pic.twitter.com/718aIiOK2G
โ NBA Retweet (@RTNBA) March 18, 2024
The insider said that the forward purposely shut himself out of the conversation. โHe stayed out of this process, he let the Lakers know through his representatives that the team and the organization has to do what they feel is right for them in this moment and going forward, because odds are, the person that they hire will be with the Lakers beyond LeBron Jamesโ days as a player,โ he insisted.
However, McMenamin did say that the starโs lack of involvement in this process somehow represented his stamp of approval of the teamโs decision. โNow that said, there was a tacit endorsement for JJ Redick because he decided to do the Mind the Game podcast with him,โ the insider expressed.
It seems that JJโs hiring is seen with optimistic eyes around the Los Angeles locker room, as co-star Austin Reaves also had a say about his new head coach. According to the young guard, the former sport analyst is a โbasketball genius.โ
โIโve gotten to know JJ a little bit, going on his podcast during the middle of the year,โ the Lakers player recently told Cierra Clark of Arkansasโ THV11. โHeโs a basketball genius, I think as everybody knows, and I think heโs gonna make a good coach and I canโt wait to get to work with him.โ