The Los Angeles Lakers and general manager Rob Pelinka took a big swing last offseason when they hired JJ Redick to be the franchise’s next head coach. Redick had no professional coaching experience prior to being handed the keys in L.A., leading to criticism of Pelinka for the pick and a general doubt about Redick’s abilities.
Pelinka’s faith was well-placed, as Redick more than proved he belonged in his first season. Despite an unceremonious end with a first-round exit, Redick had a strong season atop the Lakers. He shifted play styles multiple times to fit a drastically changed roster and helped lead the Lakers to a 50-win season and the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference.
But, of course, those positives were met with the negatives of the first-round defeat to the Minnesota Timberwolves in five games. At his end-of-season press conference with Pelinka, Redick evaluated his first season and the feeling that came with losing the way L.A. did.
“Yeah, I mean, I would just say coming into the building today was sort of an eerie, familiar feeling,” Redick said. “I’ve always felt like a team is a living organism and that season, you’ve gotta feed the organism and hope that it’s healthy. Certainly, every organism has some chronic issues and you try to address those. And then when you come in after the season, it feels like a funeral and it feels like the death of that organism.
“And that’s, in a moment of reflection this morning, the sad part and the disappointing part. We wanted this group to have the opportunity to play for a championship. We didn’t obviously deliver on that. As a player, I can remember vividly a season ending in the playoffs. You get on the plane, flight back, it’s quiet. You’re writing down everything you want to be better at, and it’s no different as a coach.
“And I think that’s where my mind goes today, immediately. How can I be better? And I’m going to take a lot of time. Thankfully this offseason I have more time than last offseason to really self evaluate, listen to my staff, listen to players, listen to [Rob Pelinka]. And figure out ways I can be better, ways I can help get us closer to that ultimate goal of hanging banner 18.”
Redick continued by discussing the process of growth and learning between seasons, and how he and his staff can improve from what took place in 2024-25.
“I look at everything as an opportunity for growth,” he said. “Giannis had a press conference a couple years ago where he talked about failure vs. success. And I think I look at things more as a river. It’s all a part of one long winding journey. Along that, you might run into a dam, you might run into the beaver’s work, we’ve talked about that before. You just never know what things come along on that journey.
“And so you have to be willing to embrace failure, you have to be willing to embrace success. But you have to be able to grow in both. And so I think everything that happened this year, with the players, the staff, the wins and the losses, has been incredibly beneficial. And I’m not ready for the offseason, none of us are, but this’ll be a great offseason for me and my staff to continue to grow as well.”
The Lakers are in good hands with Redick moving forward, as he was able to get the buy-in from his team and his staff very early on, while getting some incredible learning experiences in his first season. It’s a massive offseason ahead for the Lakers, and Redick will be a major part of every step of that process.
JJ Redick finishes sixth in Coach of the Year voting
JJ Redick received some respect from the media landscape for his first season in L.A. He finished sixth in NBA Coach of the Year voting, netting five third place votes.
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