In the past few months, more than a handful of NBA teams hired new head coaches, and Jared Dudley was among those who garnered some interest. He didn't end up with a head coaching job, although he continues to be an assistant coach under Jason Kidd for the Dallas Mavericks .
Still, the retired journeyman has hopes of one day helming his own squad in the Association. For now, he is biding his time and relishing his stint with the Mavs. However, he can't help but poke fun at JJ Redick , who didn't need any prior coaching experience to land the coveted Los Angeles Lakers post.
"I wanna head coach," Dudley said. "That's my dream and ambition to get to do that. But at the same time...some of us aren't JJ Redick and get to go right away."
Dudley was just messing with Redick
The retired sharpshooter and former podcast host has earned the praise and ire of some people around the Association for how he was able to land such a lofty job without having to pay his dues first and spend some years learning the craft as part of someone's coaching staff.
It could probably be because of his connection to LeBron James, with whom he had cohosted the "Mind the Game" podcast. However, what's certain is that Redick is renowned for having a high basketball IQ and the ability to establish rapport with players.
Dudley clarified that he wasn't throwing shade at his former teammate. The 39-year-old coach even mentioned other former players who landed head coaching jobs without previous coaching experience.
Dudley's decision to stay in Dallas
It's unclear how close Dudley was to becoming a head coach this offseason, but it appears he had no intention of leaving the Mavs in order to complete some unfinished business. After all, the squad was only three victories away from clinching what would have been just the second title in franchise history.
The retired forward has also talked about wanting to continue to learn under Kidd, whom he had played for on the Milwaukee Bucks (with the legendary point guard as the head coach) and the Lakers (as an assistant coach.)
Besides, it would have been foolhardy for Dudley to give up the opportunity to coach the likes of Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, and Klay Thompson to try to fix the mess in Los Angeles. We've all seen what happened to Darvin Ham. On that note, you have to hand it to Redick for having the courage to leave what was presumably a comfortable life in media and embark on what could be a problematic journey with the Lakers.
Related: “There’s this belief that LeBron hires and fires all these coaches” - Brian Windhorst gets real on LeBron's involvement in the Lakers hiring of JJ Redick
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