Now that the story has had time to marinate a bit, our man Shaq is out with a few more thoughts on the Lakers hiring of JJ Redick to take over as head coach after the release of Darvin Ham. Redick has no experience in any kind of NBA coaching, so it’s going to be interesting, for sure. BTW, this is the second time in recent years the Lakers have hired a head coach with so little top-man experience.
Reddick is a Duke alum, and played with a number of NBA teams, including the Milwaukee Bucks, Orlando Magic, LA Clippers, Philly 76ers and others. He finished his playing days after the 2021 season in Dallas. Since, he’s had a popular sports podcast (just like Shaq and others) and he’s been an NBA analyst for ESPN. Is that enough to make him a successful NBA head coach? No way to tell, of course, at least until the next season tips off.
For his part, O’Neal says he’s not crazy-happy with the decision from the Lakers. On his latest The Big Podcast with Shaq, he voiced those concerns:
Shaq: “Oh yeah, I knew the whole time and first, let me say this. Because I wasn’t unaware until late, but it makes it look crazy that a guy with no experience can overshadow a guy like Sam Cassell, who’s been in the league 15 years, this and that. So let me just say that, no disrespect to JJ, but I think Sam should also be able to get the same looks. But I’m happy for JJ, lot of pressure, winning games will not be good enough. Expectation when you take that job, when you take the Miami Heat job, when you take a job where there’s a lot of talent, the expectation is to win championships.”
The BIG Podcast with SHAQ
Like the rest of us, Shaq has no way of knowing what kind of coaching skills Reddick will bring to the Lakers: “What kind of coach is he? I don’t know. I saw something funny on Instagram and said he was an assistant coach for a Brooklyn fourth grade girls team that’s his only coaching experience. For me as a player, if I didn’t respect the coach, it was easy for me to turn my 100% down. Let me explain, I’m going to give you 100% anyway, but if it’s a situation where I know we’re not going to go, hundreds are hard to maintain. That’s why when I play for a guy like a Phil Jackson, I already knew his resume, so I knew because I’ve sat there and watch him go to the Finals six times with Michael [Jordan] and win six times.”
More from O’Neal: “So if he says stop doing this and do something else, I’m going to do it every time because he knows what he’s talking about. That’s why when I went to Miami, you play for a guy like Pat Riley, he says do something, you do it and it wins because I understand the resume. For a guy like me, who got all the blame when things didn’t go right, if you didn’t have that championship experience and I can question you, it was always hard for me to believe in you.”
As the new season gets started, Reddick should find at least one friendly face on the Lakers bench, Jaxson Hayes. Hayes played with Reddick when both were members of the New Orleans Pelicans. He’s already said he’s excited to work with his former teammate and now head coach. That should make for an interesting relationship!
O’Neal comments are spot-on, especially when it comes to any new coach being able to get that much-needed “buy in” from his players. It’s going to be interesting to see how that plays out as the new season gets started in the fall.