‘THAT’S WHO HE IS!’ – Stephen A. & Shannon Sharpe’s VERDICT on JJ Redick w/ Lakers 🍿 | First Take

‘THAT’S WHO HE IS!’ – Stephen A. & Shannon Sharpe’s VERDICT on JJ Redick w/ Lakers 🍿 | First Take

JJ was introduced as the Los Angeles Lakers coach Monday and the recent podcast host and NBA television analyst was quick to address the most glaring Omission on his resume saying I’ve never coached in the NBA I don’t know if you guys heard that but that hasn’t diminished his confidence he’s got high hopes for his Squad I don’t look at the current roster as as being that far off from a championship caliber team uh in terms of managing expectations 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 well well well hey I got a friend folks Timmy legler in the house sweet sport quot I like it appreciate it um okay Shannon this is your squad I mean you only show up when they win fair weather you know pan but it is what it is uh Shay let me ask you this what are realistic expectations for the Lakers this year because you heard JJ he’s he’s Championship well it’s I guess it’s kind of like if you graduate from one of these Iva League school you have an expectation to get a damn very highp paying job if you’re the head coach of the Lakers or the Celtics the expectation is championships that’s what the Lakers have been to been to 32 NBA Finals they’ve won 17 what do you mean what the expectations are you know what the expectations are you know what you signed up for man you sound to win a championship the Laker fan base a Laker Nation they expect nothing less it doesn’t matter who the players are all they see is purple and gold and when you wear the purple and gold you coach the purple and gold the expectations are through the roof and the greater their expectations the greater the disappointment when they’re not reached so JJ knew what he was getting in uh I know he always wanted he probably always wanted to be a head coach in the NBA never in his Wildest Dreams did he imagine his first head coaching job would be with the Lakers hopefully he coaches well and this is his last job but the expectations are legs you know what it is when you coach the Lakers Stephen A it’s Championship you got two all NBA players you got arguably the first or second greatest player I believe he’s the first many people with debate saying he’s the second but you got LeBron James you got an all NBA player and Anthony Davis are all not only all NBA all defensive also and Anthony Davis LeBron James and Anthony Davis so what do you expect very few teams can say we have two all NBA players currently on our roster the Lakers can boast that and so the expectations are is Championship now the team the way it looks as we’re talking about it right now legs and Stephen A probably going to look different they’re going to be some players come they’re going to be some players go but that doesn’t change the expectations the expect of our Championship Shannon I think there’s one problem you you you there’s one word on that topic bar that you didn’t address and it’s realistic right that’s the word that I’m going to pay attention to right now because you’re are right if it says Lakers on the front if it says James and Davis on the back you’re 100% right like the the expectations is going to be Championship or contend or be in that mix on a short list of teams that you think can actually win at all so I’m going to focus on the realistic part of this because I know last year that they ended up in a series of Dem nuggets and people were saying you know if they just could have avoided Denver well let me just Connect the Dots here for a second just remind everybody and stay with me they lost to the Denver Nuggets who then lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves who then lost to the Dallas Mavericks who then lost to the Boston Celtics so when you start kicking a can down the road and you think how far are they really from getting this thing across the finish line and winning it’s further than you think LeBron James and Anthony Davis are going to give you a chance every night but where this team has to make up ground is the margins around that and look this is where JJ comes in Shannon this is where JJ comes in and this is his area of expertise and I’ve gotten to know him really well last couple years I’ve done a lot of work with him we’ve had a lot of basketball conversations on this stuff he wants to improve the areas around this team offensively and defensively that lead to better high percentage streeto shots now look he’s not going to be shooting them and and I don’t know who who is going to be but JJ should be able to get them better shots based on some of the schematics that he can bring to the table based on spacing and timing and angles of screens and all of those things that JJ loves talking about that’s what they brought him in for his mind and his abil ability to communicate that he also should be able to help them defensively um and and that’s an area they’ve got to tighten up as well but some of this is going to be related to their personnel until I see who else is on this roster and what does it look like as we head in to about October 15th it’s it’s very difficult to know exactly what their pecking order is in the west all I know is this you got Minnesota you got Oklahoma City they’re both going to be better they’re younger they’ve got top tier Talent uh you know Dallas just went to the finals they’re not going anywhere and I think the Denver Nuggets are a team you still got to factor into it so realistically there are a lot of rungs in the ladder the Lakers are going to have to climb to get to the finals um before I get into the basketball portion of this conversation I don’t think I’m out of pocket by speaking on behalf of this TI show with Molly yourself sh Shay legs and everybody else to JJ reic number one congratulations and number two I don’t know how I work at other networks but we root for our teammates here so make no mistake about it all of us are rooting for you all of us want you to succeed JJ congratulations and we hope that you make the Lakers a raving success and you have a very prosperous coaching career that’s what we do here that’s number one Tim legler you have always taught me stop STS make fights Shannon says it all the time when he and I going back and forth about boxing but you say that a lot about basketball why do I bring that up because we did find ourselves fantasizing that if the Los Angeles Lakers had faced anybody else other than yic and the Denver Nuggets that the Lakers might have advanced the combination of LeBron and Anthony Davis’s Talent along with their health and availability would have propelled them against most teams because LeBron being the Savant that he is and the the ability to create the mismatches that he can create against other teams devoid of the experience of a Denver Nugget Squad he and the Lakers might have been able to take advantage of them in ways that you couldn’t pull off against a Jamal Murray against a Nicole yic and others and so because of that I look at this as a realistic expectation for the Los Angeles Lakers I understand not definitively as the roster is presently con red legs I know they got to tweak certain things right but I’m also thinking about what that brother JJ re because see that’s the secret to the to success particularly on this show damn it I never wanted to play football never tried to play football with my slim self that’s why I got that damn Shannon sharp and Ryan Clark and swag and them Bros there right you know what saying basketball damn it I wasn’t good enough that’s why I got the legs of the world and others and that’s why we had JJ reick With His Brilliant basketball mind on this show I might have disagreed with him we might have buttered heads on particular topics which I absolutely love because that’s the format of the show and we love doing that but make no mistake about it I know when to step in and when to fall back and defer the expertise JJ reick has that Tim legler has that when you look at the Lakers roster here’s where it gets very interesting Shay Shay and legs we both know JJ re to be a non-nonsense kind of dude which is why I love this quote when he said I don’t give an f you say I loved it because ladies and gentlemen in Los Angeles California let me assure you of something that is JJ reic Stephen that’s the when I saw that sorry to interrupt you but that’s exactly who he is like he doesn’t give a damn and he’s that confident and he believes he can win a championship and he’s that smart not just that not just that he’s the kind of person that will come to you and he will step to you to your face ain’t a bunch of Hangar RS or liaison rolling up oh no no no no no JJ got a problem with you you’ll see JJ so to to to the folks out there in Los Angeles don’t worry he ain’t hiding he ain’t hiding he’ll sit there and he will challenge you to display and verbalize your level of expertise you going to say something to act like you know you better know because he is going to be ready to retort very very emphatically in the end though it comes down to the roster like you said legs I’m just saying if you look at LeBron if you look at ad with some of the other pieces that they have you look at Kat on the come up matches make fights it’s not just about oh well they lost to Denver but Denver lost to Minnesota and Minnesota lost to Dallas no no no no no I’m looking at Dallas and I’m like Lakers could could have took him I’m looking at OKC Lakers could have took him I’m looking at I’m looking at I’m looking at Minnesota because of their inability to shoot okay I’m like Lakers would have had a chance Lakers Lakers could have took him even though Anthony Davis elevated Anthony Edwards I’m sorry elevated I’m just saying I’m not ruling out anything with the Los Angeles Lakers because to me the key to success is what JJ Reddit can get out of the other players outside of LeBron James and Anthony Edwards I don’t know how he’s gonna do but I’m GNA give him a shot yeah leg you said something very interesting you said his job is to try to make it easier for the guys to get three-point looks well hell I don’t care who it is you can pass me the ball I’m going to miss it and that’s what the Lakers had the Lakers had some easy looks because LeBron hit some Hammer passes some skip passes over the top and they flat out missed it and so I don’t know how he JJ is going to make the ball go into the basket but when you have an Anthony Davis you have a LeBron James you have two players that’s all NBA and Anthony Davis is all defensive I believe he should have went higher in the defensive player of the year voting that’s just me but hey I don’t get a vote yet that is but all I’m saying is this when you have those two guys legs there’s an expectation legs are you a fisherman have you ever been fishing before legs no no I can honestly tell you I’ve never even held a fishing poll in my life okay but check this out growing up growing up in rural South Georgia we used to we fish a lot and I know I know Fishman I know Kevin vanam I know bill Dan I know Roland Martin when they go out on the lake don’t tell me they weren’t biting y’all are three of the greatest fishermen ever created bring me the fish home Anthony Davis and LeBron James I don’t want to hear nobody whatever else you got going on bring me a chip you know the hardest thing I think and and getting to know JJ so well since I’ve been working with him here and doing the podcast with him everything else and just sharing basketball ideas I think the hardest thing for JJ reck is going to be this he he likes to control things he’s going to control as much as he can but at the end of the day he’s not the one taking shots he’s not the one getting on the floor for a 50/50 ball he’s not the one that made that defensive rotation on the Baseline when it had to be made so so there’s so much that is out of your control and I think that’s going to be harder for JJ to deal with losing and I’m talking about not talking about losing you know as in they’re not going to be good I’m talking about just even on a given night there’s 82 games you’re going to lose 30 Games minimum this year at least and so that’s the part I’m talking about when you’re a player and you lose you think tomorrow night I can do something to affect that it’s harder as a coach and I think that’s the part that JJ’s going to have to cope with over an 82 Game season well last word here and then we’ll revisit this in the second hour but go ahead Stephen I think that’s half the story legs I think here’s what we got to pay attention to it’s not all on JJ you know Rob Pinker you got to get him to pieces yeah I mean the fact of the matter because like you said like Shannon pointed out it wasn’t like Darin ham didn’t create situations where they ended up having open shots it wasn’t like Frank vogle didn’t create situation the man want to chip now it wasn’t like the man didn’t create situations when they had open shots but but but vogle you had the Caruso you had the cavius Carwell popes of the world you had the Kyle kman of the world people like that those guys are gone you you made those moves to get Russell Westbrook who the coaches didn’t want and had to deal with because LeBron James Wanted Russell Westbrook on that Squad not to throw any shade on Russell West CO I think it’s been great for the Los Angeles Clippers I’m just simply I’m just simply saying it’s got to be on Rob palinka too and that’s where the challenge for JJ reck is going to come in cuz there’s certain things you can’t control when it comes to the players oh but going to get in cat’s face that ain’t giving you full max out effort oh trust me he’s going to address them but what are you going to do if Rob pinka isn’t getting you what you need what are you going to do if the hierarchy of the Lakers gets in your way in any way it’s going to be very interesting to watch I don’t think it’ll happen but it doesn’t mean that it’s not possible [Music]

On First Take, Stephen A. Smith, Shannon Sharpe and Tim Legler join Molly Qerim to talk through JJ Redick being the new leading man with the Los Angeles Lakers.
0:00 JJ’s press conference
1:00 Expectations
5:00 Stephen A.’s congratulations
11:00 Control the controllables

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