The Lakers’ pursuit of JJ Redick as their next head coach appears to be heating up, with Shams dropping a fresh update during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show today.
“I’m told that last week the Lakers met with JJ Redick for an extended period of time,” Shams said. “He was the first person to do a face-to-face meeting and my sense is that he’s the frontrunner for this job.”
“I’m told that last week the Lakers met with JJ Redick for an extended period of time..
He was the first person to do a face to face meeting and my sense is that he’s the frontrunner for this job” ~ @ShamsCharania #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/leqeBn0mCk
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) May 24, 2024
This follows ESPN’s Brian Windhorst claiming Lakers staff were locked into Redick’s podcast with LeBron James, and that they could “see the connection” between the two of them.
Redick said earlier this month that coaching did appeal to him and that he missed being in a competitive NBA environment.
“What I really miss is the juice, I miss the action, I miss the competition, I miss leadership, I miss being on a team,” Redick said on Road Trippin‘. “Like in a locker room, like physically in a locker room after winning a road game. Like you miss that stuff. There is a high that you get as an athlete that goes beyond passing, and shooting, and dribbling, and, well Richard (Jefferson) never took charges, taking a charge, or dunking a basketball.
“Those are all these little moments of actual game play, it’s the other moments that I feel like we all miss as ex-athletes right. The part about coaching in general, it’s a very general statement, is like the things that I miss and the things that I love doing. That involves coaching, that all is part of coaching.”
Redick does not have any NBA coaching experience, although that may not matter if the Lakers’ priority is appeasing LeBron, who can leave LA in free agency this summer.
READ MORE: JJ Redick Reveals Why He Wants to be an NBA Coach