The BIGGEST OBSTACLE for JJ Redick and the Lakers 🍿 | First Take

The BIGGEST OBSTACLE for JJ Redick and the Lakers 🍿 | First Take

let’s talk the Lakers off seon they made a major coaching decision hiring JJ reic to lead the purple and gold but they didn’t add any pieces in free agency uh but did add dalon neck and bronny James in the draft Seth got to dive into this need you to break this down for me uh what will be the biggest obstacle obstacle excuse me for JJ and the Lakers well their roster first and foremost I mean like they did they had they did nothing to improve their roster in the offseason if you think about it decides dton conect I think the other thing is JJ reck look JJ reck has a high basketball IQ but coaching on a podcast and coaching in the NBA are two different things you can talk Gat action you can talk Zoom action you can talk Zan Spain action you can talk like you know we connect we’re going to run them on wide pin downs and dhos all those things are great all right but the reality is that there’s so much more to coaching in the NBA than the ex’s Z and look JJ is going to put in the time but it’s a different job now he’s hired a great staff he’s hired an experienced staff but the obstacles he’s going to have to deal with managing his roster dealing with adversity dealing with backto backs how do you manage your day uh I think there’s a lot more to it it is easy on a podcast you can have every single answer you know what you’re watching film it’s really easy to say when you’re putting together a play on a napkin you know it’s great but you know what the other team is also going to do some things and you know JJ’s inexperience in terms of dealing with all the other demands of being a head coach in the NBA remember when you’re a player practice is over boom you go home when you’re a coach there’s so much more on your plate that you have to deal with I think he should have got coached in the summer league not because it would have been a great uh learning well it would have been a great learning experience Mar Are you standing or you’re sitting all right how you going to use your assistant coaches how you going to interact with the officials how are you going to approach the team prior to the game or at halftime all those things are just different the X’s and O’s they take care of themselves if you have a good staff but it’s the other things the end time decisions you have to make throughout the game throughout the season dealing with adversity uh I think that’s going to be the biggest obstacle for JJ as he kind of better understands what it’s like in terms of on a day-to-day basis to be an NBA head coach okay Courtney before you jump in I just want to reiterate coaching on a podcast is very different than coaching in real life and anyone can draw play on a napkin Courtney well when coach mentioned thanks Molly I appreciate that well I just want to make sure everyone at home you know heard heard your your take I I like what coach said about dealing with adversity and I’ll take it a step further how does JJ reic maintain his composure when dealing with adversity I think you all know what I’m getting at here is he dropping F bombs the way that he did is in his introductory press conference that wasn’t a good look I know some people look look at that and say oh it’s showing that he’s a normal person he’s just like us I am you know a firm believer you say what you want to say out there but it wasn’t a good look for somebody in that sort of position the the moves that he made to bolster his coaching staff 37 years of NBA coaching experience between Nate McMillan and Scott Brooks I thought that was a wise decision from the very jump that he was surrounding himself with people who have done this and frankly it’s that idea of surrounding yourself with people who are smarter than you in no more than you do but what about navigating all of these unknowns that are going to be firsttime things that he Encounters this year in LeBron’s 22nd season how do you get in and out of a huddle what do timeouts look like are coaches going to one side at uh during a timeout the players are going somewhere else I think back to what happened in Milwaukee last year with Adrien Griffin and then all of a sudden you know he’s got one coach going to talk to the players and that didn’t seem to sit well with him and then that coach finds his way out of there like how is he going to manage person ities how is he going to manage his coaching staff how is he going to manage the biggest personality of all in LeBron James who at this age at this part of his career he probably feels he has the Credence to take over whenever he wants to and what if there’s a game like a game defining decision in the final moments is it LeBron in the Huddle giving direction or is he actually deferring to JJ reck who has his choice for this job like I don’t think we’ll know any of those answers until we see this play out in games but preparing for that is something that I don’t know if you can actually do but anticipating having fail safes in place to make sure that you can surround yourself with every option a through b if a through F if something happens you’ve got an answer for everything that’s what I’d be spending the summer doing getting ready for training camp because this roster is not any better than it was but uh from you know a couple months ago when they lost in five to the Denver Nuggets I’d be working on more of the intangible things if I’m JJ reic I think the number one thing for me is gaining LeBron’s trust but not only that but keeping LeBron’s trust that’s pivotal pivotal in this whole situation when it comes to JJ Reddit being the head coach for the Los Angeles Lakers because uh like coach mentioned we can talk about anything outside of the Heat of the Moment but when the Heat of the Moment arises how are you going to make the adjustments what are you going to draw up are you going to be able to keep your composure you JJ reck played the game at a high level right he understands there are 82 games in a season you might not be able to react to every single thing but how do you get your messaging through how do you how are you going to Define roles on this basketball team and also I want to know about the development of the players that you know are outside of LeBron and Anthony Davis and that’s why I also believe it’s it’s pivotal that they brought in Scott Brooks a guy who won an NBA championship as a player went to an NBA Finals uh losing to LeBron James and Company when he was the head coach for the Oklahoma City Thunder and I love Nate McMillan he was the head coach of for the Atlanta Hawks he is a No Nonsense guy you know what I mean he he’s going to be a guy that can tell the truth to players and make sure they stay on top of their thing but for JJ reic everything that that’s going on in his life right now is new is how he’s going to be able to navigate that but when we talk about also the biggest obstacle it’s the Weston conference getting better overall as a whole we we can’t ignore that they lost the Sacramento four times last season four times they went I believe I can’t remember I’m trying to remember what they went against the Golden State Warriors I think it was two- two but also the Clippers I think they went two- two as well that the western conference isn’t easy you get a Jama rant coming back OKC just gotten better we’ seen what Minnesota was bringing to the table Denver in my opinion may have taking a step back but they still have the MVP and one of the best Duos in the NBA as well so I think collectively seeing so many other teams get better and the Lakers stay the same that may hurt them yeah I’m curious where you were on that because I looked at it different ly more so that he’s setting the table like I don’t care what any of you fools say about me people have hated me since I was in college he was one of the most hated players that he’s not going to let any of the headlines bother him that’s great and you know what that’s great you can you can uh address it in a different way look you’re the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers you’re the head coach of one of the mo most uh greatest organizations in the history of sport right carry yourself like you’ve been there all right you don’t have to drop F bombs to get your point across and look people say well you know look being the head coach of of the Lakers is not like being on your podcast just talking ball with the guys it just isn’t all right so carry yourself like you’ve been there before I I think Harry two things usually the head coach coaches his coaches right now in this situation the assistant coaches will be coaching in a lot of ways the head coach the second thing is making decisions in real time there’s a difference between pre-planning what you’re going to say and actually seeing the game and then making decisions in real time that’s what he’s going to have to be able to do and then coming in at of timeout stroll up plays courton you mentioned that I think he’s going to rely on Nate McMillan I think he’s going to rely on Scotty Brooks and Coach shanene to help him in those areas and then Harry the last thing you said about the West the West is a monster how many games is LeBron going to play how many games is AD going to play and by the way the Lakers who basically said well you know Lakers if you become the head coach of the Lakers they’re going to always get free agents they’re always going to be in the conversation of the best free agents swing in a Miss swing a Miss swinging a miss that narrative is no longer the truth now why I don’t know is it because they have a young head co first-time head coach is that because LeBron who knows what it is but for them to strike out in free agency and still have d’angel Russell on their roster that is a problem yeah all right we’ll leave it there by the way LeBron James agreed to a twoyear $14 million deal [Music] he

On First Take, Seth Greenberg, Courtney Cronin and Harry Douglas delve into the Los Angeles Lakers’ upcoming season.
0:00 JJ Redick’s obstacles
2:00 Concerns in LA?
7:00 Redick’s not letting headlines bother him

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