In light of the Los Angeles Lakers’ decision to fire their head coach in Darvin Ham, former New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony claimed that if Los Angeles’ newest coach thinks he knows more about the game of basketball than LeBron James, the 39-year-old will take issue with that.
“Because I know the mind of 6, and if you got a mind on intellectual standard, we gon’ get along,” Anthony said about his former teammate in James. “But when you start — the minute that you start think that you know more than me, we got a problem. I ain’t gon’ say nothing to you, but I’ma start — I’ma let you do what you — I’ma let you shoot yourself in the foot. Right, so to me, I think J.J. [Redick] — I f— with it because I think J.J. has an opportunity. It’s just about what opportunity that he has.”
The Athletic’s Shams Charania and Jovan Buha reported that the Lakers are “infatuated” with Redick’s potential from a coaching standpoint and think he could be like Pat Riley, who coached the storied franchise to several titles in the 1980s.
“Leaguewide, Redick — a former player and media analyst — has garnered buzz for the position,” Charania and Buha wrote. “The Lakers are infatuated with Redick’s potential, according to league sources, viewing him as a Pat Riley-like coaching prospect who could both help the franchise in the short term and lead it for years.”
Anthony Irwin of Lakers Daily also reported not too long ago that the Lakers have zeroed in on Redick to be their newest head coach.
Redick has zero experience as a head coach at the NBA level, but he carved out a long and successful playing career in the league. The 39-year-old played for six teams — the Orlando Magic, Los Angeles Clippers, Philadelphia 76ers, New Orleans Pelicans, Milwaukee Bucks and Dallas Mavericks — during his 15 years in the NBA and established himself as one of the greatest 3-point shooters in the history of the league.
The ESPN analyst knocked down a whopping 1,950 3-pointers in the regular season for his career, the 20th-most of any NBA player ever and more than Kobe Bryant, Kyrie Irving and Steve Nash, along with numerous other stars.
Redick’s NBA career came to an end after appearing in 44 combined games with the Pelicans and Mavericks in the 2020-21 season. During his final season in the pros, he averaged 7.4 points, 1.5 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 0.3 steals per game while shooting 39.7 percent from the floor and 37.1 percent from deep.
It remains to be seen who will become the 29th head coach in the history of the iconic franchise. But recent reports indicate that Redick is a legitimate contender to become the team’s newest head coach, and if he does, hopefully he will be able to keep his ego in check and have a productive relationship with James.
