JJ Redick has drawn comparisons to Pat Riley, but Shaquille O’Neal doesn’t see any similarities between the new Lakers head coach and the Heat president.
On “The Pat McAfee Show” on Thursday, O’Neal took serious offense to Pat McAfee suggesting that many in NBA circles were referring to Redick as “the next Pat Riley.”
“Stop it,” O’Neal said. “No. First of all, JJ is a nice guy. Pat Riley is the man. So, imagine you come in (as a player) and JJ Redick starts yelling at you. It’s gonna be a (expletive) fight in there. Players ain’t going for all that yelling and all that screaming and all that extra running. Next Pat Riley, my a—.”
O’Neal spent nearly four seasons playing under Riley as part of the Heat, winning his fourth NBA championship in 2006. Riley was instrumental in convincing O’Neal to accept a trade to the Heat from Los Angeles in 2004 after the big man had a reported falling out with Lakers ownership.
The Redick-Riley comparisons began largely due to their similar trajectories to a head-coaching seat in the NBA.
Much like Riley, Redick traded in a broadcasting role for the clipboard after retiring as a player. However, the biggest difference is that Riley spent nearly two seasons as the Lakers’ assistant coach under Paul Westhead before ascending to the head coaching seat. Redick has never coached at the pro level.
Redick will get a chance to prove his naysayers wrong in the upcoming NBA season, his first as the new head coach of the Lakers. The Purple & Gold are projected to win 44.5 games a year after they won 47 games and finished as the seventh seed in the Western Conference.
