The Los Angeles Lakers are set to enter a unique situation in the 2024-25 NBA season.
While their roster hasn’t changed much from last year, the face at the front of the bench has, with former player JJ Redick taking over as the team’s head coach.
While Redick, a rising star in the NBA media landscape, is widely viewed as one of the brightest basketball minds around the league, he also had no coaching experience prior to this. That alone has been enough for some to be skeptical about his jump to becoming the head coach of one of the NBA’s most prominent franchises.
Redick and the Lakers will be an interesting team to monitor this coming season, but one former franchise legend, Magic Johnson, has stepped up and asked the fanbase to give the new head coach time to learn. Johnson’s comments came during an interview with Sports Central LA’s Jim Hill.
“We as Lakers fans gotta give JJ Redick, our new coach, some time to really help him understand how to utilize the talent, how to coach the talent, and then also what schemes will work, and what schemes won’t work,” Johnson said.
“Because this is not going to be easy for him. But I think having LeBron as your captain (helps) and one of the greatest that’s ever laced them up in AD, and they showed Laker fans and basketball fans around the world what they’re capable of doing in the Olympics.”
Johnson’s request regarding Redick’s outlook is fair and realistic. While the former sharpshooter has the potential to become a very good NBA coach, there’s little doubt that it’s going to take time, though Redick certainly seems to have the right mindset entering his first season at the helm.
