When JJ Redick took over as Lakers head coach, plenty of people had doubts. He had never coached in the NBA, professionally or at the college level, before taking the Lakers job. Danny Green wasn’t worried about it.
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“I didn’t doubt J.J. at all when he first came in,” Green said on Mason & Ireland’s podcast. “I knew he’d be a good coach because he’s just very meticulous of how he does things.”
When the Lakers began their search, they were coming off a turbulent finish under Darvin Ham. Los Angeles fired Ham on May 3, 2024, days after a first-round loss to the Denver Nuggets ended its season. He had coached the Lakers for two years, posting a 90-74 regular-season record, making the playoffs in both seasons and reaching the Western Conference finals in 2023.
That resume made the Lakers’ decision to hire Redick stand out. Ham had NBA coaching experience and had already guided the franchise to the 2023 Western Conference finals, while Redick arrived without experience coaching in the NBA, professionally or at the college level.
The contrast fueled questions about whether the Lakers were taking too large a gamble on a first-time coach, but Redick has quickly answered many of them by leading Los Angeles to back-to-back 50-win seasons. The Lakers had not posted consecutive 50-win campaigns since 2009-10 and 2010-11, and Redick is now entering his third season on the bench.
Green didn’t stop at praising the coaching staff. He pointed directly to two new names on the roster he expects to matter once the season gets going, starting with the Lakers’ first-round pick from this year’s draft.
“I’m looking at guys like the rook, Cameron Carr,” Green said. “Ziaire and Mamu, like those two guys, Colin Ston, a defensive presence that could come off the bench or start be a point guard for them. Those three guys to me can be X-factors for the group like what Jake was last year.”
Carr went 24th overall in this year’s draft. Though it was the Knicks who picked him, it was the Lakers who landed his rights in a trade and got him signed to his rookie deal over the summer. Meanwhile, Ziaire Williams spent the last two years in Brooklyn before signing with the Lakers on a one-year contract, giving Redick another body on the wing.
Redick’s attention to detail is what Green keeps coming back to the reason a roster that looked mismatched on paper has clicked this fast, and the same reason he expects Carr and Williams to find their footing as the year goes on.