The Los Angeles Lakers’ search for their next head coach is finally over.
The Lakers plan to hire JJ Redick, the 15-year NBA veteran who spent two of the last years of his playing career with the New Orleans Pelicans before a successful foray into media.
Redick will replace Darvin Ham, who was fired in May after two seasons in charge. Redick will be the seventh head coach the Lakers have employed since Phil Jackson stepped away in 2011.
Redick signed a four-year contract with the Lakers, according to ESPN. None of the Lakers' previous six head coaches lasted longer than three years.
Redick appeared in 91 games across two seasons in New Orleans. He signed a two-year, $25 million contract with the Pelicans in 2019.
In November 2020, Redick requested a trade and sought to go to a team in the Northeast part of the country to live closer to his family. The Pelicans traded Redick to the Dallas Mavericks shortly before the 2021 trade deadline. Redick sounded off on New Orleans’ front office — specifically, executive vice president David Griffin — on his podcast.
"I don't think you're going to get honesty from that front office, just objectively speaking," Redick said.
Redick appeared in 13 games with the Mavericks before retiring in September 2021.
The NBA podcast Redick launched, The Old Man and the Three, was a success. It has more than 1 million YouTube subscribers. Redick also quickly climbed the ranks at ESPN. Earlier this month, he was part of the three-person team that called the NBA Finals.
Redick’s decision to get into coaching means he will leave his media career behind. The Lakers went 47-35 last season and were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Denver Nuggets. Redick will guide a roster featuring LeBron James, who turns 40 years old in December, in his rookie season as a head coach. The Lakers' roster, of course, also includes former Pelicans big man Anthony Davis.
The Pelicans traded Davis to the Lakers in 2019. The Lakers’ final compensation to the Pelicans from the Davis trade is due next summer. The Pelicans control the Lakers' unprotected first-round pick.