Lakers hiring JJ Redick as head coach is just aimless activity disguised as forward progress

Very few NBA coaches make a real difference relative to the roster they've been given

By Brad Botkin Jun 22, 2024 at 9:33 am ET• 8 min read

Let's start with some math: Five teams have won an NBA championship since 2020, the Los Angeles Lakers are one of them, yet they are now on their third coach over that time span with the hiring of JJ Redick.

Frank Vogel won a title, then got fired. Darvin Ham made the conference finals, then got fired. Now Redick parachutes in as the hot-shot hire as we hear ridiculous comparisons to Pat Riley and Steve Kerr and Eric Spoelstra. It's almost too absurd to even laugh. 

Yeah, we get it. Redick is a smart guy. He looks and sounds sharp. The Riley comp, if you really want to be this lazy, lands in your lap from a headshot standpoint, as does Kerr because of their similar player profiles and broadcasting backgrounds. 

This isn't to say Redick won't be a successful coach. Or hell, even an all-time great one. But if he is, like those names above, he'll be the exception. Not the rule. The rule is that almost all NBA coaches are tied almost directly to their rosters. They might get a little more or less out of the group they've been granted, but not much. The Lakers, who have hired and fired seven coaches since Phil Jackson left in 2012, aren't alone in always thinking they've managed to identify the exception.