DeAndre Jordan, Paul George reveal honest takes on Lakers’ JJ Redick hire

DeAndre Jordan, JJ Redick’s former Clippers teammate, had a few words to say regarding the Lakers’ newest head coach.

After a few months of dancing to the will they, won’t they dance, the Los Angeles Lakers finally introduced JJ Redick as the team’s new head coach on Monday. Redick has been the frontrunner throughout the Lakers’ coaching process search aside from that two-week period in which the team reportedly pulled out all the stops to bring in UConn’s Dan Hurley, and now, the Purple and Gold have their man.

There is simply no telling how successful Redick will be; as highly-regarded his knowledge of the game may be, there is no greater teacher than experience, and this Lakers job isn’t just his first head coaching gig in the NBA, it is the first of his career. Nonetheless, Redick’s former teammate on the Los Angeles Clippers, DeAndre Jordan, believes that Redick has the mental makeup to thrive even though he’ll be sitting on the pressure cooker that is the Lakers bench.

“The Lakers’ job is a tough job in my opinion. They’re expected to win and hold everyone to a higher standard so they’re not gonna treat him like a first-year, first coaching experience head coach. It’s like no, you’re expected to come here and win and that’s it. But you know JJ went to Duke, had a lot of pressure his entire career, and defied a lot of odds. I think he’s up for the challenge,” Jordan said in an appearance on Podcast P with Paul George presented by Wave Sports + Entertainment.

Like in many other things, there simply is no telling when the perfect moment is. For JJ Redick, he was clearly interested in becoming a head coach, and when the opportunity arose for him, it was in his best interests to take the job — even though it will come with the outsized expectations of being the Lakers’ head coach. Jordan knows that Redick will have to be thrown to the fire and hope that the pressure makes him a diamond of a leader on the bench.

“In my opinion, no head coach is ready to be a head coach when it’s that time. You get baptized by fire and just go with the flow. However, I do believe JJ is a smart guy, he knows the game, he’s knowledgeable and knows how to communicate with different players with different backgrounds and skill sets,” Jordan added. “I’m rooting for JJ. I hope he does well.”

At the end of the day, DeAndre Jordan, who has been with the Denver Nuggets for the past two seasons, has only one ask of JJ Redick when his Lakers take on the Nuggets.

“I just hope whenever they play the Nuggets he doesn’t succeed.”

The Lakers’ cautionary Darvin Ham tale

Darvin Ham’s two-year stint as the Lakers’ head coach quickly turned sour; Ham bought himself some goodwill with how he handled adversity in his first season, helping LA turn things around after their poor start to the 2022-23 campaign, but in his second season, he became the most criticized figure in the Lakers franchise. Ham was guilty of some suboptimal rotation and tactical decisions, and his influence on the team grew weaker and weaker the deeper the 2023-24 season progressed.

Ham was also brought in by the Lakers as a first-time head coach, although he did have some considerable experience as an assistant coach before the team hired him to replace championship-winning coach Frank Vogel. For Paul George, the pressure that comes with the Lakers job is simply unlike any other; can JJ Redick withstand a tense media environment in Tinseltown, with every move, word, and decision of his being studied under the microscope?

“That’s pressure. You saw first time with Darvin Ham coaching and how things quickly went left and the Lakers fans jumped on him quick!” Paul George said during the most recent episode of his eponymous podcast.

Will JJ Redick have a roster built for success?

LeBron James will be turning 40 years old soon. Anthony Davis is also creeping up into his 30s, as he’ll be 32 years of age by the time the 2025 playoffs roll around. The Lakers still have their work cut out for them if they were to improve their core from a solid playoff team to a legitimate championship contender.

They have a few players that they could dangle in trade talks for another star, such as Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, Jarred Vanderbilt, and Gabe Vincent. They also have a few draft picks to add as sweeteners for any prospective trade. JJ Redick is not a miracle worker, so the Lakers will need to put together a roster befitting of the outsized expectations that surround the team.