Carmelo Anthony Says JJ Redick Has an Advantage on Coaching Gig Despite 0 Experience

Amid all the scrutiny around the notion of JJ Redick as the LA Lakers coach, Carmelo Anthony has pointed out one positive. Notably, ever since the speculations of Redick as a potential candidate for the job emerged, the former Orlando Magic star has faced mixed opinions. But most of these opinions have been critical of the 39-year-old.

Meanwhile, Melo believes Redick has one advantage in this whole scenario, which is, he took a gap between being a player and wanting to become a coach. “… A lot of times, it don’t pan out… If you look at guys who have been in situations where they went straight from playing to coaching… You look at Jason Kidd left us, went straight to Brooklyn… I had just played against Derek Fisher four months ago, and he was my head coach,” the former New York Knicks star said.

Notably, Kidd faced an initial struggle of multiple seasons before getting some success as a coach in the league in the season after his retirement. Meanwhile, Fischer failed terribly with his coaching stint in the NBA, getting fired only a season after his coaching debut, with a record of 23–31. So mentioning these two examples, Carmelo Anthony wanted to point out that Redick did not instantly go from being a player to a coach.

“… This particular situation, JJ has been away from the game. So he’s able to gather this information and study the game and watch the game and talk to coaches and talk to GMs. And go sit in these training camps and understand the formulas of everybody,” Melo said on his ‘7 PM in Brooklyn’ podcast. It is important to highlight that this comes after Paul Pierce’s recent comments on Redick.

What did Pierce say about JJ Redick?

Appearing on an episode of Undisputed live, Pierce stated the former Magic star may sound great about the plays, and it may sound like he has great IQ. The former Boston Celtics star also spotlighted that Redick sounds like he has a voice or demeanor for coaching.

However, Pierce believes that all of this is just limited to the perception of the people and holds no substance in reality. “It’s like an IG model… looks good all on there but when you see it in person, it ain’t what you think. It looks good when you scroll through the pics, but when you see in person, it ain’t what you think,” he said. However, this is not the first instance when a former NBA star stands against Redick as the Lakers coach.

Former Miami Heat Star, on ESPN’s NBA Today, had expressed that Redick should stay away from the job for his own good. He believes that the 39-year-old will face challenges in establishing authority with the team. “You’re gonna have guys saying, ‘Is coach gonna do a podcast after the game with LeBron?’ He’s gonna have a cynical locker room that side-eyes everything JJ says…,” Haslem said. Amid all of this, Carmelo Anthony’s one positive aspect should bring some relief for the former magic star. But more importantly, it is to be seen how Redick responds to Pierce’s comments.

Stay tuned for more such updates, and to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, had to say about the marketing genius, watch this video.