Former NBA star Baron Davis claimed on X that he saw Los Angeles Lakers head coach J.J. Redick watching film on his laptop at a car wash ahead of the team’s bout against the Sacramento Kings on Saturday.
Just ran into @jj_redick at the Car Wash. he had the Laptop watching film!!!! Players coach!!! Lakers in great hands !! #dedication
— Baron Davis (@BaronDavis) October 26, 2024
Redick verified prior to the start of the game that he was indeed watching defensive film on the Kings.
“JJ Redick confirmed Baron Davis’ tweet that he was watching film on his laptop at the car wash today,” Jovan Buha wrote on X. “Redick said he doesn’t typically watch film in public but because of the quick turnaround with the back-to-back, and his children playing two basketball games today, he needed to find time to watch defensive film on Sacramento.”
Folks in and around the Lakers have to love that level of dedication from their head coach.
Redick is off to a strong start with the storied franchise. The Lakers beat the Kings by four points on Saturday, and Los Angeles has yet to pick up a loss since the season started, as evidenced by its 3-0 record.
At least one former NBA head coach also thinks very highly of Redick. Stan Van Gundy — who led teams like the Orlando Magic, Miami Heat and Detroit Pistons during his coaching career — drew a comparison between Redick and Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr.
Redick and Kerr both carved out long playing careers in the league before they decided to enter its coaching ranks, which seemingly inspired Van Gundy’s comparison.
“He’s somebody that really had to learn the game and rely on what he knew about the game and how to play it,” Van Gundy told the Southern California News Group while speaking on Redick. “It’s something he had to give a lot of thought to. NBA basketball is very hard for anyone playing it. It requires a lot of work, but some guys it requires more of to be able to compete at that level. And he’s certainly one of those guys.
“I think you can compare him to what Steve Kerr did. I think there’s a lot of similarities there.”
What makes Redick’s auspicious start to his stint with the Lakers so impressive is that he had no prior coaching experience in the league before he accepted the Lakers job. There were seemingly concerns that Redick didn’t have the experience necessary to step in and be the solution for Los Angeles at head coach, but so far, he has put those concerns to rest.
Redick and the Lakers will try to continue to stack up wins on their upcoming five-game road trip, which kicks off on Monday against Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns. After taking on the Suns, the Lakers will then play the Cleveland Cavaliers, Toronto Raptors, Pistons and Memphis Grizzlies.
The Lakers’ best unbeaten start to a campaign in recent memory came when they won their first eight games of the 2010-11 season. If Los Angeles can go undefeated during its upcoming road trip, it will own an 8-0 record.
