NBA champ: J.J. is too smart for own good, learning ‘value in being dumber’

The consensus view is that J.J. Redick’s first season as a head coach at the NBA level was a success. Without any prior high-level coaching experience before joining the Los Angeles Lakers, he helped the squad to its first 50-win season since the 2019-20 campaign along with a top-three seed in the Western Conference.

Still, 2016 NBA champion Richard Jefferson pointed out a fault he sees in Redick. He thinks that Redick is too smart for his own good, but at the same time, he said Redick is learning the “value in being dumber.”

“Yes, but I think he’s learning that being dumber is better,” Jefferson said when asked if Redick is too smart for his own good. “No, no, no, not better — he’s learning the value in being dumber, right? No, he’s learning the value. No ’cause you can be so smart, but if you can’t get your point across, eventually you start to feel frustrated and like, ‘Am I crazy?’ And it’s like, no, sometimes you can simplify things, and you are smarter.

“Some of the smartest people in the world are the ones that have the ability to simplify complicated things. It’s not just how smart you are. Can you simplify something that’s complicated? And I think that’s something that J.J.’s getting better at.”

Redick ended up in the running for the Coach of the Year award following his first season on the job. He was one of only six head coaches across the league to receive voting points in the race. Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson ultimately won the award. Redick’s points came from a handful of third-place votes.

While the 2024-25 regular season went well for Redick and the Lakers, their fortunes changed in the 2025 NBA Playoffs. Redick saw his team get booted in five games in the opening round as Los Angeles majorly underperformed in its first playoff stint with him as head coach.

However, Redick may have more talent to work with now than he did last season, and 2026 could be the year that he leads the team deep into the playoffs. Los Angeles’ only notable loss this offseason was Dorian Finney-Smith, who opted to leave in free agency to join the Houston Rockets. Plus, the Lakers’ additions include Deandre Ayton, Marcus Smart and Jake LaRavia.

They all bring things to the table that would have come in handy for Los Angeles in the 2025 NBA Playoffs. Ayton gives the Lakers the starting center they have needed since Anthony Davis was traded. Meanwhile, Smart bolsters their perimeter defense, and LaRavia brings strong 3-point shooting chops to the table.

Maybe the improved roster the Lakers have on paper, coupled with the experience Redick is gaining, will create a perfect storm for an incredibly successful 2025-26 campaign in Los Angeles.