Among the list of names floating around for Darvin Ham’s replacement, only one name is without coaching experience. He’s also the frontrunner. JJ Redick could directly start a head coaching career if the Lakers pick him, a quicker transition than his pro-baller to a sports media career. As enticing as the combination of Redick with LeBron & Co. sounds, it leaves a faction of Lakers Nation with mixed feelings. Udonis Haslem, once LeBron James’ teammate on the East Coast, made no secret about a likely scenario Head Coach Redick would create. Now Rob Parker is doubling down on his concerns.

Parker has been blunt about what a bad idea it is if the Lakers hire Redick. Since the NBA Draft Combine this week will cement the Lakers’ decision, he amped up his campaign on The Odd Couple. “I got a message for Jeanie Buss and for the Lakers,” Parker said on his podcast. “Stop the madness. You will regret this. What you are doing where the Los Angeles Lakers are turning over its franchise to LeBron James.”

He implies that having Redick in charge is like putting Bron in the driver’s seat. A similar sentiment UD said recently too. “If it’s JJ [Redick], it’s gonna be a cynical locker room. You’re gonna see guys that are gonna say, ‘Is coach going to do a podcast after the game with LeBron?’ You’re gonna have a cynical locker room of guys that are gonna side-eye everything JJ says because they’re gonna wonder, is it JJ’s message or Lebron’s message?”

It’s not a mere instance of Rob Parker being outspoken. He’s not been Redick’s biggest fan for a while. He wasn’t so keen on having Redick in the media business for years either, implying often he’d be protective about the players instead of critical of them. And maybe he would see the same happening if JJ were a coach.

A week ago Parker had another perspective on why it would be a bad idea to have Redick in charge. Again, it had to do with his current media commitments with James.

Concerns mount before Lakers’ decision

As Udonis Haslem also pointed out, Redick and James are collaborators on the Mind the Game podcast. If Redick gets the head coaching job, it would look unorthodox to an observer if the coach and the star player went from practice to the studio to record their show. Further, the offcourt venture would make for intriguing conversation in the locker room. Most wonder how Redick would balance his media and coaching responsibilities.

Parker and his co-host, Chris Broussard don’t see it working well given that Redick not only lacks experience, at 39 years old, he’s also a contemporary to veterans like Bron and Anthony Davis on the team. He claims they won’t respect Redick who they played against and beat several times – 24-11 W/L for James against him.

Despite their very valid concerns, rumors suggest that the Lakers are leaning heavily toward Redick over experienced coaching assistants. The reason  The Athletic’s Jovan Buha points out is, that “they want a coach that can be their version of an Erik Spoelstra, their version of a Steve Kerr,” someone to hold on for a long-term.

The decision will be known after the draft combine in Chicago.