We knew that JJ Redick was going to have a technical, strategic, analytic-driven game plan for his debut as the Lakers coach. After all, the man is all about the Xs and Os. But if he had his way, the former sharpshooter would be aiming to drown the league in threes!

Joining the ESPN LA crew after attending the press conference with Rob Pelinka, the Duke alum had a hilarious answer to Ramona Shelburne’s query. The veteran ESPN analyst asked how he would want to play in an ideal world where he could pick whoever he wanted. And what did the ex-Magic star have in mind?

“73 threes,” Redick said with a straight face and in the most casual manner possible like he did not just drop a bomb. The whole group literally looked like owls, staring at him before JJ laughed it off. In JJ’s defense, Shelburne did say “in an ideal world.” But he quickly brought their attention to the real question – the Lakers’ strategy.

Coach Redick admitted that “you can have a vision for how you want to play, [but] you have to mold your vision to what your personnel is.” And right now, the plan is to bring the best out of each player and as a group. But what method is he going to use for maximizing the potential? Analytics. No surprise there.

“I believe in analytics and I believe the things you emphasize can help build a more positive analytical profile,” the 40-year-old pointed out. Now, if we were to explain this with the help of an example, imagine a team has a strategy where they focus on mid-range shots. However, looking at key metrics and other statistical aspects, it shows that three-point shots are more effective.

Naturally, it would make sense to make changes in a way as to incorporate or even prioritize three-pointers, like LeBron James has done in recent months. Take, for instance, his three-point percentage. In 2022-23, the 4x champion averaged 32.1% from the deep. But last season, the number went up to 41.0%. That’s almost a 9% increase!

Going back to Ramona’s question; she actually mentioned another interesting little detail.

JJ Redick would benefit from his experience as a broadcaster, much like Steve Kerr

Shelburne began by bringing attention to a chat she had with the Warriors’ coach, Steve Kerr. A broadcaster himself before stepping into the coaching scene, Kerr revealed that he always carried a book where he noted down “all the cool things that teams did, or players did, or things he learned along the way.”

And when he became a coach, those came in very handy. Given that JJ is coming from a similar background, having watched teams, players, and how they played closely, Shelburne’s query was right on point. The first active player to start a podcast, JJ Redick, began his podcast journey in 2016 with Yahoo! Sports, under the title, The Vertical.

A year later, he moved to Uninterrupted under the name, The Chronicles of Redick, but after a meeting with Tommy Alter the same year, he decided to go with The Ringer. Three seasons later, JJ Redick finally moved the podcast under his own production company, ‘ThreeFourTwo Productions’ with Alter. The podcast by then was renamed to its final name, The Old Man and The Three. And of course, when he retired from the NBA, Coach Redick also got into the broadcasting career. And how could we forget his and Bron’s mid-season podcast launch – Mind The Game?

That’s nearly eight years of keen observation and analysis of basketball. So, yeah, there’s no doubt that despite zero professional coaching experience, Redick might just be the cure to the Lakers.