JJ Redick helps keep the Lakers’ undefeated home streak intact as the Anthony Davis-led squad made short work of the Philadelphia 76ers. For starters, their opponents were down two key players: Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. And the Purple & Gold?

The team got AD and Rui Hachimura back! And the former made his return known, finishing the night with a game-high 31 points. Could this have anything to do with JJ’s message to the veteran forward going into the season, though?

Despite favoring James Borrego for the coach during Los Angeles’ hunt for an HC, it seems that Davis and Redick have had a cordial relationship. And as per Dave McMenamin, the former sharpshooter had a three-word message to ‘The Brow’ ahead of the season.

“[I told him] to win MVP,” Coach Redick said, via McMenamin.

Well, we can’t be sure if the 2020 champ was heeding his coach’s words, but Anthony Davis is in fact leading the MVP race now. And while JJ urged Davis to pursue the MVP award, not too long back, he left the 9x All-Star off his ballot for the All-Defense teams. Of course, you would know that staying healthy has been the biggest barrier between him and the DPOY title.

But to exclude him from the All-Defensive teams completely was something many considered a stretch. In fact, AD himself was reportedly extremely upset with the decision. I mean, who would want to hear from your new coach that he didn’t consider you good enough to be on an All-Defensive team? When JJ Redick was made aware of this, the former broadcaster quickly offered a clarification.

“There’s a big difference in being a top ten defender and making an All-Defense team,” Coach Redick first reasoned in a recent appearance on SiriusXM NBA Radio. But that did not mean he didn’t consider Davis a good defender. In fact, he had the 31-year-old in the top 3. However, he noted that being recognized as a top defender and being chosen for the All-Defensive Teams involved different criteria.

“You certainly have to factor in the stats, the advanced stats, and of course, the team performance on defense. And in both years [that I voted], I weighed heavily on how the team performed defensively,” JJ reasoned.

Well … it’s highly doubtful whether it was enough to convince Anthony Davis. And the offseason tension rumors did not help either.

Anthony Davis reportedly expressed reservations about JJ Redick as new coach

These rumors were reported at the time the Purple & Gold was heavily pursuing Dan Hurley. The UConn coach has never hidden his desire to coach an NBA team. And given the Lakers’ history with coaches and their situation, getting Hurley would have been like hitting the jackpot. As such, they passed on JJ Redick, who up until that time, was said to be heavily favored.

So, what led to the change of direction? For one, it may have had to do with the fact that AD was clearly the future of Lakers’ organization. Hence, taking his opinion into consideration was natural. And as mentioned above, his preferred choice was Borrego – a fact NBA Insider, Marc Stein mentioned in his substack.

“It has been suggested in some corners of the league that Lakers star big man Anthony Davis probably prefers for James Borrego to get the job over Redick,” he wrote. The reason?

Other than the obvious head coaching experience with the Hornets and Magic, “he and Davis overlapped briefly during Borrego’s first stint with the Pelicans after Davis was drafted No. 1 overall in June 2012.”

However, as we saw, nothing of the sort materialized. Hurley rejected the organization’s offer and Redick ended up being a frontrunner over Borrego, finally landing the gig.

In the end, Redick’s arrival marked a turning point for the Lakers, even if the journey to get there was anything but straightforward. With Davis now leading the MVP race, it’s clear that the connection between coach and star is already yielding results—though the road to this point wasn’t without its bumps.