LA Rival Inspired JJ Redick to Pursue Coaching

Like many professional athletes at the end of their careers, new Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick wasn’t really sure what he wanted to do after his playing career. After devoting much of his life to becoming a great basketball player to success at Duke and then throughout his 15-year basketball career, Redick wasn’t on an exact path.

He had long been told he would be a coach one day, but he revealed during his introductory press conference with the Lakers on Monday that the possibility of that future hadn’t really dawned on him until his time with Rick Carlisle at the Dallas Mavericks in his final professional season, according to CBS Sports.

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“There have definitely been coaches that I’ve had throughout my career that said to me, ‘You’re going to coach one day.’ Doc (Rivers) was probably the first one to do that,” Redick told reporters during of his introductory press conference. “It was really when I was in Dallas at the end of my career and I suffered for most of those two months, I really didn’t play much. Rick Carlisle and I spent a lot of time together and he really planted the seed about coaching. At the time, I knew I was going to retire, I didn’t know what I wanted to do, I wanted to stay home for a bit, I didn’t think. not that it was the right time. My performance coach and I talked about all the things I loved about being a player… and it’s all part of coaching When I think about the culture that. we want to create here, part of it is a competitive culture.

Of course, Redick first began a career in broadcasting and then podcasting in the first two years after retiring, even calling the NBA Finals this year. He interviewed with the Toronto Raptors last year, but only became a coach this year, with the Lakers hiring him for his first-ever coaching role.

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