JJ Redick on hearing the Lakers went after Dan Hurley: “At no point was my ego or feelings bruised in any way”

Newly hired Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick revealed that he didn't at any point feel bad that the team chased after UConn's Dan Hurley during their extensive search in the last month and a half. Redick conducted his first press conference as the Lakers' new coach on Monday and understands why the organization went after Hurley.

"During that four-day period, at no point was my ego or my feelings hurt or bruised in any way . Dan Hurley is a two-time national champion at UConn; I am a two-time 55 Swish League champion in the third and fourth-grade division. I understood," Redick said .

Redick doesn't feel like the second option

JJ also revealed that he first met Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka during the Draft Combine held in Chicago in May. The former NBA player mentioned that while the news about the Lakers going after Hurley surfaced in early June, Redick was focused on calling the NBA Finals, and it helped that Pelinka was in constant communication with him about the situation.

While Pelinka acknowledged that the organization missed out on Hurley , that doesn't mean Redick is the backup. In fact, the GM revealed that JJ was always on top of their list of choices for the job. What ultimately sealed the deal was that the first-time head coach embodied certain characteristics Pelinka thought best suited for the job.

"I think in industry in general and in sports in specific, sometimes it's easy to get caught up in patterns of being in a sea of sameness and doing the same thing that everybody else is doing," said Pelinka, who sat next to Redick during the news conference. "But when we embarked on this search, it was really important for us to see if we could do something a little bit different. And quickly in our conversations with JJ, it was very evident that he had a unique perspective and philosophy on basketball and how it's to be taught," Pelinka added.

Maturity and self-awareness from JJ

Redick did an excellent job addressing the question about the Lakers ' chase after Hurley this summer. It showed a lot of self-awareness and maturity, given that he also pointed out the difference between the two-time NCAA champion head coach and him as an inexperienced head coach.

Only time will tell if Redick continues to leave a good impression as he embarks on his first year as an official NBA coach. Years from now, this moment will be looked back on either when the Lakers nailed this hiring or when the franchise settled for yet another coach because their pursuit of Hurley didn't pan out.

Related: "Not avoiding things and not avoiding confrontation" - JJ Redick once talked about why he'd make a great coach in the NBA