(Los Angeles) The Los Angeles Lakers have hired JJ Redick as head coach, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Thursday.
This person spoke on condition of anonymity because the Lakers had not yet made an official announcement. The news was first reported by ESPN.
Redick, who spent 15 seasons as a guard in the NBA, has no coaching experience. He will now lead an organization that holds 17 NBA titles, headlined by LeBron James, the best scorer in the history of the circuit.
After being an effective shooter from downtown for six teams in the league, Redick retired and turned to a career in front of the cameras with ESPN. He was on the main broadcast team for the recent final between the Boston Celtics and the Dallas Mavericks.
Redick actually met with the Lakers before the end of the Finals and apparently did enough during this interview to put an end to the hiring process, less than two weeks after the University of Connecticut coach, Danny Hurley refused the Lakers’ advances.
Redick replaces Darvin Ham, who was fired after leading the Lakers to the playoffs twice and reaching the Western Finals in 2023. He becomes the eighth head coach since Phil Jackson left in 2011 and the fourth since that James joined the club in 2018.
