The 2024 NBA offseason is coming to a close, which means the new season is on the horizon. While the Los Angeles Lakers are always the talk of basketball before the games tip off in October, this year presents a different force field surrounding the team.
L.A. smashed headlines by onboarding former NBA sharpshooter JJ Redick as the team's new head coach. After the rocky stint the Lakers had with the previous man in charge, Darvin Ham, Redick faces suffocating pressure to help lift a franchise—with a nearly 40-year-old LeBron James as the best player—back to royalty.
The No. 1 fan speaks out
Although more than five years have passed since NBA Hall of Famer Magic Johnson unceremoniously stepped down as the Lakers' President of Basketball Operations, he remains the franchise's No. 1 ambassador.
Magic loves his Lakers, and regardless of how he felt about his beloved organization appointing a rookie head coach for the job, the five-time champion is ready to stand behind JJ as he moves in as the new leader in charge.
"We as Lakers fans have to give JJ Redick, our new coach, some time to understand how to utilize the talent, how to coach the talent, and then also what schemes will work and what schemes won't work because this is not going to be easy for him. I think having LeBron as your captain, one of the greatest to lace 'em up, and Anthony Davis—they showed Lakers fans around the world what they are capable of doing in the Olympics," said the legendary point guard.
Related: Jeanie Buss reveals JJ Redick will have a longer time to establish himself with the Lakers: "We have to give him time to establish what he wants to establish"
The walk of patience
Redick, who was probably busy uploading one of his podcast episodes to the internet when L.A. contacted him for the first time, was heavily scrutinized when the world found out he had joined the Lakers' head coach candidacy.
Since his retirement, the former NBA guard has been in the limelight as a star media personality, making regular appearances on ESPN's "First Take" alongside renowned talking head Stephen A. Smith, as well as launching his hit podcast, "The Old Man and The Three," which has amassed over 1 million subscribers on YouTube. And then recently, JJ took it several notches forward by announcing a new podcast with LeBron, instantly catapulting the vocal star into another realm of sports media.
Had Redick not partnered with James to do a podcast, he perhaps wouldn't have received as much backlash upon being hired as the Lakers coach, as many were convinced the decision to hire him was largely orchestrated by No. 23.
This podcast partnership has quickly evolved into a head coach-player relationship, which is unprecedented and something that may not happen again in the NBA. The purple and gold will be a lightning rod for attention all next season, with the world waiting to watch the outcome of this unique pairing.
Related: “I don’t think I could play for a guy who I just played against four or five years ago” – Shaquille O’Neal raises doubts about J.J. Redick as Lakers head coach
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