By Nearly every big name in sports media has offered their take on how new Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick will do in his high-profile first coaching job in the NBA. But one sports media figure who may know Redick better than most offered his take on how he may fare in Los Angeles.
Former NBA head coach turned NBA analyst Stan Van Gundy has a close relationship with Redick. He was the coach of the Orlando Magic for five seasons in the early portions of Redick’s career.
In a recent conversation with Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times, Van Gundy detailed that even back when Redick was playing, he saw qualities in him that he knew would translate to potentially becoming a successful NBA coach one day.
“He’s a guy who took losing very hard as a player,” said Van Gundy in the phone interview on Monday. “And it’s nothing compared to the way that will hit him as a coach, that first game that he loses at the buzzer or down close by two, you know, at the end. And that stuff tears you up.”
Van Gundy went on to say that there is far more that goes into coaching than the public may know, including time management skills and managing multiple different pre-game responsibilities.
He believes that Redick will be able to learn all of these things on the fly as a head coach, but added that he believes there will be a natural “learning curve” for his former player.
“JJ will be fine with all that,” Van Gundy added. “I mean, he’ll be fine. But there’s a learning curve. And you know, the Lakers could have somebody who could be very, very good for a long, long time. But, it’s going to take a little time, and they’ve got to give him some time.”
Van Gundy is absolutely correct here. It seems like Redick does indeed have all the tools to one day become a great NBA coach given his vast knowledge of the game.
But with that being said, the Lakers are an organization where it is largely championship or bust year in and year out. And if Redick’s “learning curve” takes a bit longer than some may expect, we may see his tenure in Los Angeles go sideways quickly.
