{"id":137217,"date":"2025-05-01T09:42:58","date_gmt":"2025-05-01T13:42:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=137217"},"modified":"2025-05-01T09:42:58","modified_gmt":"2025-05-01T13:42:58","slug":"jj-redick-rookie-coaching-season-lakers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/05\/01\/jj-redick-rookie-coaching-season-lakers\/","title":{"rendered":"JJ Redick Ends Rookie Coaching Season with Eye Toward Growth"},"content":{"rendered":"

Well, that\u2019s a wrap on JJ Redick\u2019s inaugural season.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Lakers were bounced out of the first round with a Game 5 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves Wednesday night, causing plenty of scrutiny around the franchise\u2019s future with Redick, LeBron James<\/a> and Luka Doncic<\/a>. There\u2019s also significant optimism around <\/span>Redick<\/span><\/a> after his first season in LA, evidenced by postgame comments from him and public support from his players.<\/span><\/p>\n

JJ Redick Ends Rookie Coaching Season with Eye Toward Growth<\/b><\/h2>\n

Redick on First Season: \u201cI Can Get a Lot Better\u201d<\/b><\/h3>\n

When reflecting on his first season leading a storied franchise, Redick said he’d utilize input from his players and assistant coaches to assess his coaching debut.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI know I can get better, and I know I will get better,\u201d <\/span>he added<\/span><\/a>. \u201cI don\u2019t necessarily take any satisfaction from how the year went. That\u2019s not to say I\u2019m not proud of what the group was able to do and how we were able to figure things out on the fly and put ourselves in a position to have home court in the first round. But there\u2019s always ways to get better, and I can get a lot better.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

It really is a year to be proud of for Redick and the Lakers. The 15-year vet took one of the biggest jobs in the league without a lick of professional coaching experience. He brought structure and accountability to a star-studded roster that saw massive midseason changes. As a result, the Lakers earned their first 50-win season and top-three finish since 2020.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, his inexperience also showed, especially during the playoffs, where he made glaring choices<\/a> against the Wolves that factored into an early exit. Those growing pains are par for the course with any first time head coach, but perhaps because it was the Lakers, Redick\u2019s mistakes received just as much attention as his successes.<\/span><\/p>\n

Star-Studded Endorsements<\/b><\/h4>\n

Reflecting on Redick\u2019s first year, <\/span>Doncic<\/span> called his former teammate a \u201chell of a coach.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNot many coaches do the stuff he did in his first year,\u201d <\/span>he said<\/span><\/a>. \u201cI\u2019m really glad [he coached me]. Feels sometimes like I\u2019m back in Europe a little bit. We have a great bond \u2026 it\u2019s been nothing but amazing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

When looking toward the Lakers\u2019 future, <\/span>LeBron James<\/span><\/a> also praised Redick for the job he did this season.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think whatever happens, I think JJ [is] gonna continue to grow,\u201d <\/span>he said<\/span><\/a>. \u201c[I] thought he had a hell of a rookie campaign for a rookie coach. And it\u2019s a lot different being a rookie coach.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s already hard being a rookie coach in the NBA,\u201d James added. \u201cAnd it\u2019s a hell of a lot harder being a rookie head coach coaching the Lakers. It\u2019s a whole \u2018nother ball game.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

James went on to praise Redick for handling the situation \u201cextremely well,\u201d learning every day and constantly pushing the team. \u201cHere\u2019s a great coach and up-and-coming coach that will be great for many years,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bright Future Ahead for Redick, Lakers<\/b><\/h3>\n

The <\/span>Lakers<\/span><\/a> hired Redick for the team’s long-term future, and this year\u2014despite its ending\u2014feels like a step in the right direction. Bringing him aboard with minimal coaching experience was a bold move by <\/span>Rob Pelinka<\/span><\/a>, but it paid off by laying a solid foundation for the purple and gold\u2019s future.<\/span><\/p>\n

Redick accomplished one of his preseason goals by <\/span>establishing a competitive, winning culture<\/span><\/a>, and at times, the Lakers flashed some improvement in three-point shooting and defense\u2014two areas he harped on this summer. His emphasis on player development also served the Lakers well. They got solid contributions from <\/span>Dalton Knecht<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Jordan Goodwin<\/span><\/a> and saw signs of potential in <\/span>Trey Jemison<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Christian Koloko<\/span><\/a>, and <\/span>Bronny James<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The 40-year-old clearly has all the tools he needs to succeed with the Lakers\u2014high basketball IQ, an experienced staff, talented players, and that \u201csicko\u201d mentality. Now, it\u2019s up to the front office to fulfill their end of the bargain. The team must find players that fit this iteration of the Lakers, ones that complement Doncic, James and Austin Reaves<\/a><\/span>. LA now has a full summer to prepare for a \u201cLeBroncic\u201d season, and they enter a critical offseason with the right coach for the job.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a9 Matt Blewett-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Well, that\u2019s a wrap on JJ Redick\u2019s inaugural season. The Lakers were bounced out of the first round with a Game 5 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves Wednesday night, causing plenty of scrutiny around the franchise\u2019s future with Redick, LeBron James and Luka Doncic. There\u2019s also significant optimism around Redick after his first season in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4265,"featured_media":137222,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,26,62],"tags":[4556,2279,38,1133],"class_list":["post-137217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-lakers","category-nba","tag-austin-reaves","tag-jj-redick","tag-lebron-james","tag-luka-doncic"],"modified_by":"Jordan Pagkalinawan","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4265"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137217"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137217\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":137220,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137217\/revisions\/137220"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/137222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=137217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}