{"id":79494,"date":"2024-05-30T12:09:59","date_gmt":"2024-05-30T16:09:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=79494"},"modified":"2024-05-30T15:08:56","modified_gmt":"2024-05-30T19:08:56","slug":"lakers-nowhere-close-head-coach-hire-jj-redick-rumors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/05\/30\/lakers-nowhere-close-head-coach-hire-jj-redick-rumors\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakers \u2018Nowhere Close\u2019 to Head Coach Hire Amid Redick Rumors"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A month into their offseason, 15-year NBA veteran and ESPN analyst <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/r\/redicjj01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">JJ Redick<\/a> may be <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/05\/29\/two-former-lakers-under-consideration-for-coaching-staff-jared-dudley-rajon-rondo\/\" target=\"_self\">characterized as the early favorite<\/a> for the Los Angeles Lakers head coach vacancy. However, colleague Adrian Wojnarowski says that the franchise is \u201cnowhere close\u201d to making a decision.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c(Los Angeles Clippers head coach) Ty Lue was never really part of that search,\u201d Wojnarowski admits. \u201cBut the Lakers are now starting to bring in candidates for longer, in-depth interviews. They had a series of, I think, kind of \u2018get to know you\u2019 interviews with people they didn\u2019t know as well.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Lakers \u2018Nowhere Close\u2019 to Head Coach Hire Amid JJ Redick Rumors<\/h2>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">The latest on the Lakers coaching search for NBA Today, including Pelicans top assistant James Borrego meeting again with organization in LA today <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/OpUkSVeuRI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/OpUkSVeuRI<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/wojespn\/status\/1795906040707641384?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">May 29, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Revealing that New Orleans Pelicans top assistant James Borrego had a second interview with the Lakers on Wednesday, Wojnarowski says that the former Charlotte Hornets head coach \u201cis a very serious candidate\u201d in their coaching search. \u201cBut they\u2019re going to bring in more,\u201d the NBA insider adds. \u201cI think over the next few weeks, you\u2019re going to see more candidates come back in and dig a little deeper with the Lakers on this head coaching job.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Along with Redick and Borrego, assistant coaches Kenny Atkinson (Golden State Warriors), Sean Sweeney (Dallas Mavericks), David Adelman (Denver Nuggets), Micah Nori (Minnesota Timberwolves), Sam Cassell (Boston Celtics), and Chris Quinn (Miami Heat) have been linked to the Lakers\u2019 vacancy. L.A. reportedly <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/05\/15\/lakers-receive-permission-interview-long-list-of-candidates\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">received permission to interview<\/a> each of these candidates.<\/p>\n<p>Former Portland Trail Blazers head coach Terry Stotts, has also been named as a potential candidate. If so, they\u2019ll have competition, as the Cleveland Cavaliers are <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/05\/27\/cavs-coaching-search-heats-up-former-coy-finalist\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">interested in him as well<\/a>. Like the Lakers, the Cavs fired their head coach shortly after a playoff exit that left a bitter taste in their mouths. Quinn, Atkinson, and Borrego have also interviewed for multiple teams during this coaching cycle.<\/p>\n<h3>The Last Word on JJ Redick<\/h3>\n<p>Ultimately, it makes sense for the Lakers to take their time with their coaching search.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe it\u2019s a coincidence that Klutch Sports\u2019 Rich Paul let <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jamesle01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">LeBron James<\/a>\u2019s intention <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/05\/26\/nba-rich-paul-drops-bombshell-lebron-james-free-agency\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">to reach free agency<\/a> slip. However, he\u2019s also stressed that the Lakers make decisions without regard to James. In fact, Paul believes <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/davisan02.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Anthony Davis<\/a> should be <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/05\/24\/lakers-rich-paul-has-surprising-take-offseason-plans\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">their central focus<\/a>. As a result, Redick\u2019s viability of landing the gig taken a hit.<\/p>\n<p>Redick\u2019s undoubtedly a highly regarded for his knowledge of the game. Nonetheless, the biggest factor in his candidacy is his relationship with James. They\u2019re not necessarily as thick as thieves. However, they\u2019ve developed a genuine friendship, respecting the other as players and basketball minds. They\u2019ve even created a podcast together, <em>Mind the Game<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>But if James isn\u2019t playing in L.A. in 2024-25, the decision may look foolish in retrospect. As a result, candidates such as Borrego, Stotts, and Atkinson make plenty of sense for the Lakers. They\u2019re experienced, respected by their peers, and perhaps refreshed after their last stints as head coach. Though a fresh face can certainly exceed expectations, Redick\u2019s coaching background \u2014or lack thereof \u2014makes him the biggest gamble of all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A month into their offseason, 15-year NBA veteran and ESPN analyst JJ Redick may be characterized as the early favorite for the Los Angeles Lakers head coach vacancy. However, colleague Adrian Wojnarowski says that the franchise is \u201cnowhere close\u201d to making a decision. \u201c(Los Angeles Clippers head coach) Ty Lue was never really part of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":79511,"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":[26,1608,9,62,3],"tags":[1557,2279,236,38,695],"class_list":["post-79494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lakers","category-basketball","category-cavaliers","category-nba","category-news","tag-james-borrego","tag-jj-redick","tag-kenny-atkinson","tag-lebron-james","tag-terry-stotts"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79494","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\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79494"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79494\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79511"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}