LeBron James Breaks Down JJ Redick's Rookie Season as Lakers Head Coach
LeBron James Breaks Down JJ Redick's Rookie Season as Lakers Head Coach originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
The Los Angeles Lakers hired JJ Redick as their new head coach last summer after firing Darvin Ham, who coached the team for two seasons.
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Redick played 15 years in the NBA and had two successful podcasts, "The Old Man and the Three" and "Mind the Game."
Redick and Lakers superstar LeBron James were podcast partners on "Mind the Game." After Redick took the Los Angeles job, Hall of Famer Steve Nash replaced him on "Mind the Game."
The Lakers won 50 games this season under Redick. They were the third seed in the Western Conference and appeared primed to compete for the championship with James and Luka Doncic leading the way.
However, the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Lakers in the first round of the playoffs in five games.
LeBron James enjoyed playing for JJ Redick this season. Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images
James, 40, is expected to pick up his 2025-26 player option with the Lakers. The NBA icon recently told The Hollywood Reporter that Redick is "always super-duper-crazy prepared."
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"So when I had this season one with JJ, the one thing is that he was always super-duper-crazy prepared," James said. "And it makes sense why he is the coach that he is now. My one year that I've had with him so far, you see how incredibly prepared he is. It doesn't matter if it's broadcasting [or] if it's podcasting or coaching.
"You could see it all translate to one another where it comes to being prepared — the preparation that he takes into it."
The Lakers were 19th in the NBA in points per game, 10th in points per game allowed, 12th in offensive rating, 15th in defensive rating and 14th in net rating under Redick this season.
It will be fascinating to see how James, Doncic, Redick and the Lakers fare in 2025-26.
Related: LeBron James Shares Strong Opinion on Steve Nash Amid Successful Partnership
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 18, 2025, where it first appeared.

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