The Los Angeles Lakers are clearly huge fans of JJ Redick and randomly gave the second-year coach an extension for no good reason on Thursday.
Despite a winning record in his first two seasons and a surprise trip to the Western Conference Finals in his debut, the Lakers boldly fired Darvin Ham two years ago. A case could be made that maybe he wasn’t a good fit with the players on the roster. But it was still a risky move.
To replace the first-time head coach, LA hired another first-timer with even less experience on the bench in JJ Redick. While the NBA veteran and former Duke star had a lot of respect around the league for his work as an NBA analyst on ESPN, he had no coaching experience at any level before being hired.
However, the organization seemingly made a winning bet as the newbie head coach posted a 50-32 record, which was tied for the third-best in the conference last season. It was a great start after the franchise gave him a four-year, $32 million deal. Yet, the Lakers took that early success to heart and shockingly gave the 41-year-old an extension on Thursday.
It was a move that clearly shows the Los Angeles Lakers have learned nothing.
Did Lakers forget about what happened with their last six coaches?
If the Lakers feel Redick can be the next Steve Kerr, that’s great. However, there would also have been nothing wrong with waiting a little longer to find out if that was a real possibility or not. Especially when the franchise has shown to be as impatient as any when it comes to results.
In many ways, the Lakers are like the New York Yankees of the NBA. Because the brand is world-renowned, the standard is so high and is often unreasonable. The last 15 years have been a perfect example of that, as the organization has had a quick hook in the post-Phil Jackson era.
After Jackson walked away from coaching in 2011, the organization hoped Mike Brown could fill his iconic shoes and get the franchise back to the Finals after winning two in a row to end the previous decade. However, after a 1-4 start in year two, they fired him. After some tumult, former Phoenix Suns coach Mike D’Antoni replaced him. He was fired after a 27-55 finish the following season.
The organization chose to go with a team great as the next leader of their bench and brought Byron Scott back to the franchise after underwhelming stops in New Orelans and Cleveland. Like Brown, he lasted just two seasons and never made the playoffs. Then they went with another Lakers veteran and handed the reins over to first-timer Luke Walton.
JJ Reddick record: 50-32
They were a bit more patient with him. However, after three postseasonless years, they understandably moved on in 2019. That firing made sense. In his place came former Indiana Pacers coach Frank Vogel.
He actually brought the franchise their most recent championship under difficult circumstances when they brought home the Larry O’Brien Trophy inside the bubble during the pandemic. One could expect he would have gotten a lot more rope. However, after he also missed the playoffs in year three, to the surprise of some, he was ousted and replaced by Ham.
After Phil Jackson, only one Lakers coach has lasted three full seasons. And Walton didn’t win a championship like Vogel, or reach the Conference Finals like Ham. Yet, Reddick had done enough in 82 games and a first-round elimination to prove worthy of an extension.
Clearly, the Lakers don’t remember how impatient they can be, and they don’t mind wasting money. Nevertheless, Redick should feel pressure more than comfort, because no job is truly safe at Crypto.com Arena.
