JJ Redick Has an Advantage That No Other Veteran NBA Coaches Had Despite 0 Experience, Ex-NBA Star Claims

With Dan Hurley declining the LA Lakers‘ head coach job, JJ Redick is once again a frontrunner for the position. But is he getting a privilege as compared to other seasoned coaches of the NBA? At least, former NBA star Stephen Jackson believes this to be true, as revealed by him on ‘Pardon My Take’.

Appearing on the podcast, Jackson mentioned Redick has a “LeBron privilege,” going on for himself. He further stated how a lot of guys do everything they are supposed to do, but they still fail to get an opportunity unlike Redick. “I know a lot of players that’ve been coaching in the NBA that had an opportunity. It didn’t go well because their first opportunity was a trash team… Now they’re just assistant coaches for the rest of their career,” he said.

Jack mentioned that none of these coaches get an opportunity to coach players like LeBron James and Anthony Davis on their first attempt. “So it’s a lot of privilege there,” he added. JJ Redick and LeBron have not only been on good terms for a long time, but the two also run ‘Mind the Game’ podcast together. So there have been speculations about King James’ favor towards his co-host for the Lakers’ head coach job.

However, the franchise had recently made a reported 6-year, $70 million offer to Dan Hurley for the head coach position. But the Uconn Huskies coach declined the offer, choosing to stay with his college basketball team to attain the three-peat. 

More recently he has said, “The chance to coach LeBron made it incredibly appealing. But this is such a high-level experience, especially where we’re competing… I have a chance to coach 18-19-20-year-olds that you can really help change their lives.” Now, with Hurley out of the picture and Redick as a frontrunner, many don’t seem on par with the idea.

JJ Redick’s associates’ doubtful about his move to the Lakers?

As per the reports, the closed ones of the former NBA star are questioning if he actually wants to pursue the Lakers head coaching role. Among the first ones to reveal this info was ESPN’s Brian Windhorst during his appearance on ‘Get Up’.

“And that’s one of the reasons why I think there’s people in his life, in fact, I know there’s people in his life, who have said ‘Are you sure this is the opportunity you want? That this is what you want to leave for? Because this is such a challenging job,'” Windhorst said.

Redick’s lack of experience as a coach has been a concern for numerous analysts and pundits. The Lakers’ veteran-heavy roster, inclusive of LeBron and Anthony Davis has yielded suggestions for an experienced coach to take on the position. It is further added on by the fact that the Lakers are hungry for a championship, placing heavy pressure on Redick, considering the franchise has parted ways with coaches to have failed to deliver the desired results.

Nonetheless, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski recently reported the 39-year-old will interview for the position this weekend itself. Now it’s to be seen if the above alleged “LeBron privilege” actually works in his favor, securing him the job.

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.