“JJ getting roles in order asap. Don’t (sleep) on him. He gonna get it done.” Patrick Beverley’s recent praise of the new Lakers head coach showed that the latter isn’t without any support in the NBA. Even before he was granted the main job, JJ Redick’s coaching inexperience was casting a big dark cloud on his candidacy. Even his former teammate was alleging some sort of bias in his selection, with Jared Dudley stating, “I want to head coach. That’s my dream… Some of us aren’t JJ Redick and get to go right away.” However, where former teammates are turning, his previous on-court rivals are instead providing a shoulder to the 40-year-old.

With the pre-season commencing, Julius Randle took some time out prior to the Lakers matchup to engage in a Q&A session. Fans keeping in touch with the recent news may remember that the player was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves, along with Donte DiVincenzo, after the  Knicks decided to acquire Karl-Anthony Towns. The discussion soon shifted toward Redick after a reporter highlighted how Randle’s once-former rival has now secured the post with the Lakers. When asked to share his thoughts on the same, the 29-year-old hilariously stated, “He was annoying.” As it turned out, however, Redick was ‘annoying’ for only the right reasons.

“He was freaking annoying, but man he was a hell of a player, obviously a hell of a shooter, and you know underrated aspect of him, he was a competitor man,” said Randle. “He was a guy that, like I said, he was annoying because he was so competitive, and driven out there, and you know, he played with a chip on his shoulder. So, I would imagine he’s going to coach like that as well. Uh, and everything I know about JJ and conversations I’ve had with him, and he’s extremely smart high IQ, so I mean he’s going to be a hell of a coach in this league for a long time.”

Randle and Redick never served as teammates in the 7 years that they both competed as players. However, in the 13 games during which they faced off, the shooting guard seems to have left a good impression behind. After all, the now Lakers HC was able to establish a 10-3 win record against Randle’s squad, averaging 14.2 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 2.2 assists in the process. Therefore, despite the fact that Redick never coached a major NBA league before, his former rival is confident that the head coach knows his stuff, and would be able to apply that to lead the LA franchise toward another championship title in the future.

Randle’s praise helps to balance the scale, as it was only a couple of days ago when one of the most renowned Lakers legends shared his doubts about Redick. Despite having retired from the NBA as a player back in 1996, five-time champion Magic Johnson still keeps himself informed on the happenings around the league. While Randle believes that Redick’s past works in his favor, Johnson holds the opposite viewpoint. After all, not only did he compete against several of the Lakers players during his playing days, but he also reportedly criticized them after taking up an analyst position with ESPN.

“It’s hard to go from where he was to the coach now because, remember, he was criticizing guys. Now he is got to come coach these guys that are in the NBA, in that locker room,” said Johnson in a recent appearance on The Jimmy Kimmel Show. While such an issue may arise in the future, all seems to be well for now.

D’Angelo Russell shares his praise for JJ Redick before NBA Insider revealed a high approval rating for the new HC

In a recent report, ‘The Athletic’ reporter Jovan Buha revealed that “JJ Redick’s approval rating with his players is through the roof.” This impression was created after the coach and all the players got together during Media Day and Training Camp sessions. After all, who would choose to speak against the same head coach who claimed that he would happily fall on a sword for the team? Amidst all this praise, however, the one from D’Angelo Russell stood out the most.

“I’m not throwing shots at anybody … but I’ve never really had the opportunity to build a relationship with a coach over a long period of time,” said the 28-year-old point guard, as reported by ESPN reporter Dave McMenamin. “For me to see how JJ is trying to bring the playcalls and just level of IQ into each practice and each film session, to see how he’s prioritizing that. I’ve always been a guy that wants to prioritize high IQ, (high-level) verbiage, (high-level) film sessions … like, let’s rise to that. And he’s obviously doing that. It’s something to look forward to.”

With a mix of praise and doubts, fans won’t get to know the effect of Redick’s coaching until the Lakers go out and play a couple of games. Fortunately, the same won’t take long, as the pre-season has already begun.

Before you go, remember to check out this crossover between BG12 and Georgia Bulldogs star Silas Demary Jr.