Marty Jean-Louis/AP
The Los Angeles Lakers and ESPN analyst JJ Redick have agreed on a four-year contract to make Redick the team’s new head coach, ESPN insider Adrian Wojnarowski reported Thursday.
News of Redick’s hiring comes a little over a week since the Lakers were forced to pivot from University of Connecticut coach Dan Hurley. The organization reportedly offered a Hurley a six-year, $70 million deal, but he ultimately turned it down to remain at UConn to try to win a third consecutive national championship.
According to Wojnarowski, Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka made the offer to Redick Thursday morning. Now, Redick will be searching for assistants to fill out his coaching staff.
He will start the job with no prior coaching experience in the NBA, but Pelinka believes an “elite” coaching staff will shorten the learning curve.
Pelinka became sold on Redick’s ability to connect with players and his basketball IQ and believes surrounding him with an elite coaching staff will help to shorten the learning curve into his first coaching job, sources said. https://t.co/xxqFXSrpJN
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 20, 2024
This season, Redick was one of the analysts on ESPN’s top NBA broadcast team. Redick, along with Doris Burke and play-by-play announcer Mike Breen, called the NBA Finals on ABC. The 39-year-old, who played 15 seasons in the league and is considered one of the greatest 3-point shooters of all time, was also a regular guest on First Take.
Away from ESPN, Redick has two podcasts — The Old Man and The Three and Mind the Game. The latter is co-hosted by LeBron James, a player Redick now will be coaching. It’s unknown if the two will continue the podcast.
