JJ Redick was not supposed to be here. At least that’s what fans had deduced when the Los Angeles Lakers front office had announced his candidature as a head coach in June last year. As an NBA veteran-turned-broadcaster without an ounce of coaching experience, it’s understandable why detractors loomed heavy over the handful of supporters—that was close to none. Yet, 10 months later, conversations are not just rife about his acumen, but even about a potential NBA Coach of the Year crown. And after their latest 140-109 victory over the Houston Rockets? Well, he’s cemented himself as a man who’s about to make a legacy, evident from the coach’s own words. But before we let you hear it from the horse’s mouth…

Let’s talk stats. With the team’s recent win vs the Rockets, they’ve not just clinched the No. 3 seed, and a Pacific Division title for the second time in the last 13 seasons, but also won 50 games in the regular season for the second time in 14 years. Luka Doncic, by all means, was the superstar of the show with a game-high 39 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists in 31 minutes of play, while Austin Reaves pulled off an impressive 23 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists. To sum up, it was just a great day with players’ spirits reaching the sky. “I feel like we could win a championship, to be honest with you,” Reaves said, before Doncic chimed in: “I think we have the team to do it.” Well, seems like that’s not just wishful thinking anymore.

As things stand, the team ranks 11th in offensive rating at 116.2, while their defensive rating stands at 114.6 (Oklahoma City Thunder tops the list at 106.6). Agreed that Redick’s squad has a long way to go, but with the current momentum, it wouldn’t hurt to believe in a championship dream, would it? After all, this is the first time in 13 years that the Lakers will homecourt advantage. Yet, the job is “not done,” as per the head coach, but that doesn’t mean his former podcast co-host won’t hype up the win.

“Man, I was going to say something, but it’s useless at this point in my career! Anyways, more important CONGRATULATIONS JJ on a 50 win season in the WEST & Post Season nod! That’s 🔥🔥🔥🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾🫡.” LeBron James added on X, after the win over the depleted Rockets. The celebration was not only on social media, though. In a heartwarming moment, it was The Los Angeles Times‘ Dan Woike who first informed, “One of the few times this season we can hear the Lakers locker room celebrating next door through the walls here in the press conference room…” Well, the downside was the Lakers locker room just suffered a staggering $17,000 damage thanks to the overenthusiastic squad who decided water was the best way to celebrate their team’s feat…

Talking about the same, Redick later said at the post-game conference, “I just want to apologize to Kathy. Hopefully, in the next nine days, the $17,000 of damage to the carpet can get fixed. So, there’s about eight ice buckets put on me.” Coach Redick was presumably apologizing to Kathy Montoya, Vice President of Game Operations & Entertainment at Los Angeles Lakers. After the fun conversation was out of the way, the 40-year-old got serious about his goals and if he was satisfied with the current position.

After a journalist asked, “How would you say your first season went?” the coach said, “I spent all of three and a half minutes on the flight back from Dallas just thinking about making the playoffs and thinking about the coaching profession…As a coach…you’re obviously judged on regular season wins and losses and your ability to get to the playoffs.”

JJ Redick continued, “But I think the other two things that you’re really judged on are: The way you’re able to handle the pressure of the playoffs, the adjustments the in-game stuff. There’s so still so much work that we have to do myself, our staff. And then I think you’re also judged on the culture you create and whether or not your players and everybody in the building like coming to work.”

Looking at the tweet from LeBron, it is fair to say that the players enjoy coming to work. Plus, they will be motivated as the third spot is clinched with playoffs starting a week from today.

JJ Redick had one of the loudest critics

When the Duke alum got the job, the obvious connection was made to him doing a podcast with LeBron James. Plus, no basketball coaching experience did not help the matter. However, there were few who credited the former ESPN analyst for his basketball IQ. But throughout the season, with wins and losses, the critics grew stronger. They started the season with elite offensive plays but gave away a lot of points to the opposition. However, defensive frailties were on notice.

One such strong critic was Charles Barkley. “Remember, I got your Lakers’ games. You can’t hide them flaws they got. You just a dead man walking.” During an Inside the NBA segment, Chuck was very blunt in his opinion. “He [Redick] came in there thinking, ‘I can make this thing work.’ Hell you can! Put some makeup on that pig… The Lakers stink, man…” .

At the time, the Lakers were fourth in the Western Conference with a 20-14 record. But currently, they secured the 50th win of the season, along with the third spot in the conference. However, all was not smooth, as the recent game also produced a small setback, as LeBron James did not participate after an injury crisis. Now, will it have a larger impact in the playoffs? We will know very soon.