Takeaways from JJ Redick’s Lakers press conference + How will he evolve the Lakers? | NBA Today

Takeaways from JJ Redick’s Lakers press conference + How will he evolve the Lakers? | NBA Today

mentally physically spiritually everything to try to play at a high level is very tax who else but the king the legend of LeBron continues to grow how taxing is very taxing it’s a lot of dedication a lot of hard work and a lot of long [Music] hours if you love the game and you love the process and you love being great D you don’t mind taking the tax that comes with it pretend hey welcome to NBA Today presented by ESPN bet she is the one and only Chan AUM he is Austin Rivers and Captain double breasted suit over there CJ M he came in and he said you know what I mean what is is that the Joker suit isn’t that what he is that what it was a riddler it’s the Riddler that’s it the rler take himself out a little bit I’m Malika Andrews we are here live in ESPN’s New York seport Studios the NBA draft just over 24 hours away good thing we got our number one pick here in the building we’re going to get to the draft but we’re going to start out west because JJ reck he was introduced as the Lakers head coach on Monday he spoke for the first time about his new role take a listen sitting in this seat I know what the expectations are uh Lakers fans have some of the most passionate uh fans around the world and the expectation is a championship and so it’s it’s my job it’s our staff’s job it’s Rob’s job it’s all of us to to deliver a championship caliber team uh that’s what I signed up for I don’t really have a great answer for your uh question because I I really don’t give like honestly I want to coach the Lakers I want to coach the team I don’t want to dispel anything I don’t I want to become a great coach in the NBA and I want to win championships and I want my players to maximize their careers that’s all I care about I’m not going to lie he crushed that press conference I don’t know if he practiced in the mirror or anything like that but he crushed that and if reck were to accomplish that next season he would become the 10th rookie head coach to win a championship in NBA history so CJ what’s your reaction to that Proclamation there from JJ well Austin and I are laughing because we both know JJ that’s Austin’s fellow Duke brother I’ve played against JJ I’ve been in the green room with JJ I’ve been behind the scenes just kind of seeing his personality and understanding how serious he is about things and I’m surprised he threw in the second F bomb but he D he double down he absolutely doubled down and I think Lakers fans are going to appreciate him because he’s Stern he’s firm he’s going to be able to hold his players accountable and he’s the type of Coach where you can hold his feet to the fire cuz that’s how you could you could coach him as a player like that he expects accountability he expects to be held at a certain level and his focus is to win championships I don’t necessarily know that they have the roster to do that yet but that is his focus and he means what he says in terms of his preparation his understanding of the roster and what he wants to accomplish and he really does not give a about what these fans think about him yeah we’re not going to do that twice not here not here do it here yeah no this is this is exciting I mean JJ is one of the more professional calculated players I’ve ever played with you know he really every day on the job in terms of how he approached his craft was top tier uh in fact he showed me a lot playing with him uh La he helped change me a lot of ways just as in terms of being a professional so listen it starts at the top he has a respect with LeBron that’s where he has the podcast so it’s going to trickle down he’s going to walk in the locker room from day one ad LeBron they’re going to see this guy see that he has that respect and from then on be able to you know have an impact so we’ll see how it goes early on we all knew that that podcast was going to end athletes know like that’s not going to continue and now Austin you said the word professional but I also think there’s another p word that matters here he is slightly polarizing when he was a player we all know that the way he play the game the way he approached that fire made him polarizing you went to Duke you know this better than anybody else that is a polarizing school but I think though that brought out being that type of figure that fire that professionalism brought out the best in his game National player of the year but I do think this is the first time that he’s not responsible for just himself right how will that personality affect the locker room the team because often times when we think about players and coaches you kind of want that stability right he is fire and so just seeing how he evolves not as a coach but also as a person because the greatness has been brought out through that polarization how will he evolve for the Lakers to see how that brings out the best Squad right but part of it also the roster that they have as you mentioned CJ they were seventh after the playin tournament and everything last season for in the Western Conference so how many wins do you think a coach is worth how how much better are they just because JJ is their head coach a coach can have a huge impact on a team okay uh just from a culture standpoint you know forget X’s and O’s that’ll that’ll be you know judge during the season he’s going to be under a close watch with that just as a new coach coaching the Lakers being in those crunch time moments but I I I would assume that they’re going to hire some veteran assistant coaches to help them out in that regard but culturally what are you setting the tone for is it it needs to be known that it’s his not LeBron’s not ads has to be coming from JJ and I do think JJ to your guys point to both your point he is Stern enough to be able to walk in the locker room and demand that and want that respect from day one listen to what uh JJ said about LeBron’s influence or maybe the lack thereof during his interview process LeBron and I did not talk about uh the Lakers job uh until Thursday afternoon uh about 30 minutes after I was off for the job uh and that was very intentional on both our parts um you know I I knew I had an understanding that he did not want to be involved in this um and for me I didn’t want to go down the path of hypotheticals uh with with someone that I consider a friend and someone that I have a great amount of respect for you believe him on espn.com our Lakers reporter there you go Dave McAn he said this in part on LeBron’s looming contract situation La is committed to resigning James and would offer the maximum three-year deal for which James is eligible that would take him through his 24th season my in the NBA so we kind of talked about this so LeBron James JJ the voice of the locker room it’s sort of all inextricably linked how do you separate that out whose locker room is this I think it’s always the players locker room the best player on the team’s locker room right so it starts with them obviously LeBron James is arguably the greatest player of all time obviously he passed this off to ad and said that ad is the future I’m only going to be here for a few years don’t make your coaching decision based on me they said okay LeBron we’re still going to actually you for your opinion because you are our franchise he denies it JJ denies it we believe both of them sure but I think the key is this said that really well LeBron’s bought in ad’s brought in the front office has bought in that means the rest of the roster will buy in because JJ is a worker you see what Austin Reed said about him in terms of his preparation how serious he is to the game and basically called him a basketball genius so that’s showing you the rest of the roster is bought in your question about wins I think players win games but when you believe in your coach when you’re riding with your coach that gives you three to five more wins out of respect to your coach because you want to perform for him you want to be prepared you might not stay out as late in Miami you might not stay out this late in Toronto because you understand what’s at stake here and for LeBron shout out to Toronto for Leon know where to go that’s a sleeper right there Toronto Toronto’s crazy sleep resta not sleep anymore but I think the key is this this is LeBron’s window to win a championship so everyone’s going to put their best foot forward and obviously J JJ wants to make a lasting impression and show that he’s just as locked in on this as he was his gem shot so should oh I like that that was a good little line there do you think that LeBron should sign that three-year Max extension with the Lakers I do I mean we heard when he first got to La that this was a lifestyle decision yeah he’s he’s a leading all-time scorer he he’s he’s won his championships he’s done everything he’s wanted to do his family’s out there his kids at Sierra Canyon his daughters in school there obviously his son just uh uh went to the USC his roots are in Los Angeles I don’t see him at age 40 going to chase a ring somewhere else besides the fact that he has ad as running mate they’re playing in Paris together they have pieces there something that you can work with in terms of maybe adding something else trading something they’re not far away obviously JJ’s an exciting hire I think you stay put man to get Max at 40 years old just tells you the greatness that we’re dealing with here yeah and I also think that we all know this is likely LeBron’s Final Chapter what did you say uh 24th season come on now so if he’s like you said built his most recent Roots here I don’t think there’s much change coming in the future but CJ you said something that was really interesting when it comes to players and coaches who impacts the most with winning or losing games I was going through all the news and I was scrolling Twitter and someone said something interesting players win games coaches lose games in the NBA if you look at the playoff series sometimes losses are predicated on adjustments this is a firsttime head coach how will he handle that now having the locker room is great I think the biggest opportunity and the biggest question mark that I have for JJ and also Rob pinka is yeah you can have a locker room that’s bought in but is the locker room good enough is the roster good enough the irony here that I love about JJ is LeBron James has found his most success when he has Shooters on the floor with him now as a coach that understands the power of Shooters around him how do you construct a roster that not only allows you to win games but also put yourself in the best circumstance as a first year head coach the ceiling for JJ reck for this Los Angeles Lakers team it is dictated by the health of Anthony Davis and LeBron James and the fact of the matter is they played 66 games together last season that’s the most they have played since they were in a Lakers uniform and they were still the seventh seed in the Western Conference a West that is getting Memphis Back In Contention a West that the Houston Rockets are up in coming here see Jan like that a little bit so I just don’t know with this current roster even with those adjustments I hear what you’re saying you played I didn’t so I take what you’re saying about how many wins a coaches can get is it good enough to get pass that seventh Mark right now I don’t know no they need a roster change for sure I mean that’s the most important thing if you’re the Lakers front office right now is getting the right roster put together seeing what you can you know Garner and people that you can collect I don’t know what’s out there they don’t have a lot of talent out there on the market in terms of You Got What clay you got Paul George yeah they’re not talking about going to the Lakers so you know they’re going to have to make some moves you know there’s always moves under under develop right and LeBron’s in his 22nd season the only player we’ve seen do that is Carter and it was at a very different level than what we’re seeing LeBron James attempt to do now [Music]

Takeaways from JJ Redick’s Lakers press conference + How will he evolve the Lakers? | NBA Today
On NBA Today, Malika Andrews, Chiney Ogwumike, CJ McCollum and Austin Rivers weigh in on JJ Redick’s introductory press conference as the newly named Los Angeles Lakers’ head coach and LeBron James’ contract situation with LA.
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0:00 JJ Redick Lakers press conference reaction
4:30 It will be interesting to see how JJ Redick is going to evolve the Lakers – Chiney Ogwumike
5:10 This is JJ’s team, not LeBron’s – Austin Rivers
6:20 LeBron’s contract situation
6:30 Should LeBron sign a 3-year max extension to stay with the Lakers?
9:00 How will JJ Redick handle losses?

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