Former NBA coach Stan Van Gundy has compared new Lakers coach JJ Redick to one of the most successful coaches in recent memory.
Despite him only coaching preseason games so far as the 2024-25 season draws very near, Van Gundy likens Redick to Steve Kerr.
“He’s somebody that really had to learn the game and rely on what he knew about the game and how to play it,” Van Gundy told The Orange Country Register. “It’s something he had to give a lot of thought to. NBA basketball is very hard for anyone playing it. It requires a lot of work, but some guys it requires more of to be able to compete at that level. And he’s certainly one of those guys.
“I think you can compare him to what Steve Kerr did. I think there’s a lot of similarities there.”
Kerr won five championships during his playing career with the Bulls.
Then, in 2014, he became the head coach of the Warriors, following a brief turn in broadcasting and a stint in the office executive office at the Suns.
The very next year, he won a championship with the Dubs and backed it up with three more in 2017, 2018 and 2022.
If Redick can become half as a good a coach as Kerr, he will be doing a good job.
No doubt, Kerr was blessed with incredible rosters for most of his championship runs, which shows the importance of having a good front office.
Luckily for Redick, he has skilled All-Star veterans like LeBron James and Anthony Davis on his roster, who are hungry for another championship with the purple and gold.
Only time will tell what kind of NBA coach Redick will become, but he certainly has an intriguing type of edge over some of his competitors, after being in the NBA for 15 seasons.
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