The Los Angeles Lakers are having a very good season. Even before they swung one of the biggest trades in NBA history to acquire Luka Doncic, Los Angeles had a 28-19 record and was in fifth place in the Western Conference standings.
They've gone 7-2 over the last four weeks as they dealt with a number of distractions and completely reconfigured their team. LeBron James and his supporting cast have been playing very well, and at least some of the credit has to go to first-year coach JJ Redick, who has helped the team navigate it all.
In an interview with ESPN, Lakers owner Jeanie Buss revealed that she had reservations about hiring Redick because of his lack of experience.
"I was worried about hiring a rookie coach," Buss said. "This team is so important to this community, and to bring in a rookie coach that had no experience before, that was a big leap. But I knew that [Redick and Pelinka] would work well together, and I love watching the progress that they're making."
Buss's apprehension is understandable. Two of the three coaches the Lakers hired in the last decade were Darvin Hamm and Luke Walton, who were both first-time head coaches. The other, Frank Vogel, was an experienced head coach and the team won a championship under him.
Even in the cases of Walton and Hamm though, they both had experience as assistants. Hamm had a decade of experience and Walton had spent two years with the Warriors, where he had an incredible run as an interim head coach.
Redick had only coached youth basketball, and was better known as a podcaster since he retired. And it's not like things got off to a great start. Now he's a coach of the year candidate. Obviously, that big leap of faith has paid off for the Lakers.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Jeanie Buss Admits She Was Worried About Hiring Inexperienced JJ Redick.
