JJ Redick opens up on coaching LeBron James

The Los Angeles Lakers have their next head coach in JJ Redick. Now, the biggest question is going to come down to how he is able to work with LeBron James.

While at his introductory press conference, Redick was able to open up about coach James and shared some of the ways that he’s hoping to use him in the future.

“With LeBron, you certainly have to get buy-in and talk to him about how he wants to play,” JJ Redick said. “Him and I have joked about this, but he shot over 40 percent from three this year. I want him shooting threes. He’s going to have his three or four busts every game where he gets out in transition and does things that no one at his age should ever be able to do, but he does it.”

There’s no doubt that LeBron James is still one of the best players in the NBA, despite now being 39 years old. In fact, last season, he was still averaging 25.7 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 8.3 assists per game. So, the hope is that he can continue to play at that high level with Redick coaching.

This comes at an interesting point in LeBron James’ career, with his son Bronny James set to join the NBA through this year’s NBA Draft after his one-year stint at USC.

“It’s really just figuring out in the half-court, putting him in different spots both as a scorer and a facilitator,” Redick said. “That will be part of the conversation over the next couple of months.”

Throughout his career, LeBron James has had eight head coaches before JJ Redick took the Lakers job. Now, including Redick, he’s had four head coaches since getting to Los Angeles in 2018. The hope is that Redick can have a longer tenure than Los Angeles’ previous coaches.

One thing that JJ Redick can offer unique from many other coaches is that he is 40 years old and a peer of LeBron James who played against him in the NBA. Because of that, he comes to James on a relatively equal level compared to some other coaching candidates.

JJ Redick is replacing Darvin Ham as the head coach in Los Angeles. Ham was the head coach there for two seasons, going a combined 90-74. The Lakers also won the in-season tournament under Ham and made it to the Western Conference finals in 2023 before losing in the first round of the playoffs in 2024.