Dan Hurley’s decision to remain in the collegiate ranks has resulted in a new leader in the clubhouse for the Los Angeles Lakers’ next head coach. The favorite as of Saturday, June 15, is a familiar name: former NBA player and current ESPN broadcaster/podcaster JJ Redick, who has already held the title of frontrunner for the Lakers position in recent weeks. Redick gave way to Hurley after ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Hurley was L.A.’s preferred coach and that an offer was on the way.
However, Los Angeles rewrote the script after Hurley turned down a $70 million deal over six years. On Saturday, Timothy Rapp of Bleacher Report referenced Marc Stein’s report, in which a league insider told Stein that the Lakers are almost certainly going to hire Redick. “It would appear that JJ Redick is firmly in the driver’s seat for the Los Angeles Lakers’ head-coaching position,” Rapp stated. “A ‘source close to the process’ told NBA insider Marc Stein, ‘You know who is getting the job,’ seemingly referencing JJ Redick.”
Lakers Interviewed JJ Redick for Second Time Over Weekend
Redick had previously interviewed with the Lakers several months ago, but Wojnarowski claimed on Thursday that he would do so again following the conclusion of Game 4 of the NBA Finals between the Dallas Mavericks and the Boston Celtics. “Redick, an ESPN NBA analyst who played 15 years in the league, had a 90-plus-minute visit with Lakers vice president and general manager Rob Pelinka last month at the Chicago draft combine,” Wojnarowski reported. “Now, a trip to Los Angeles will go far deeper into detail on the job and the meetings will include Pelinka and owner Jeanie Buss, sources said.”
Assuming the meeting goes well, Redick should have the inside track merely because of the happenings between the Cleveland Cavaliers and another hot head coaching prospect, James Borrego. “Borrego’s apparent lead in the Cleveland search could end up leaving Redick as the only top-tier candidate left on the Lakers’ list that they have a clear shot at,” according to Stein’s report on Saturday.
Borrego was the Charlotte Hornets’ head coach for four seasons, from 2018-22. He previously worked as an assistant for the San Antonio Spurs and the New Orleans Pelicans last season.
