"I knew all this was getting cooked" - Stephen Jackson believes JJ Redick was always the top choice for the Lakers' head coaching position

In the latest episode of All The Smoke Unplugged with co-host Matt Barnes, Stephen Jackson echoed his sentiment that J.J. Redick enjoyed a privilege that led him to be hired as the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers.

"There's definitely coaches out there that deserves it way more than J.J. that paid their dues – that is proven, won championships, that's done the work, that went to these coaching camps and schools, that they tried to force this, or that told them that they had to go this to eventually get a coach's job. It's a whole bunch of coaches that did all that and still ain't nowhere close to getting the head coaching job. So it's a privilege there, ain't no secret about that," Jackson argued.

"We understand that. Everybody sees that J.J. is privileged, and can you smell what the Rock is cooking? Because I could. I smelled it when him and LeBron was doing the podcast and all that sh**. I knew all this was getting cooked," the retired forward added.

A controversial choice

Redick's head coaching career has a big asterisk: he lacks experience. The former sharpshooter did not coach at any level, outside of leading his son's youth basketball team, which isn't quite enough to meet the common standard for being considered a legitimate NBA coach, let alone lead a team that includes the LeBron James-Anthony Davis duo.

JJ joining the Lakers after being a media personality and podcaster is quite unusual. That said, many have said that his 'Mind the Game' podcast with LeBron served as his stepping stone to secure the job from Purple and Gold.

However, regardless of the concerns and other negative comments around Redick, Jackson supports the former sharpshooter in his role of steering the Lakers back to glory.

"As a player and as somebody who knows JJ, played with him for a short time, and he's a brother of mine, that motherf***** know the game," Jackson said. "He's super smart. I don't think he's dedicated to it. Even if we say it's a privilege, I mean he gonna go in there, and he can't do a worse job than anybody else that's going in there. I know it's a lot of pressure on them. A lot of guys don't get that first job where they're coaching LeBron James and Anthony Davis. He's definitely blessed with that. But at the same time, it's not easy. It's not as easy as people think it's going to be. A hard job for JJ, but I think he's up for it, and I'm confident in them."

A double-edged hiring

Although conflicted as their first choice has reportedly been Dan Hurley , hiring Redick appeared to be the Lakers' Plan B. Besides, Rob Pelinka and the rest of the team's leadership can only do what's best for the franchise to regain the commitment of LBJ, whose future in L.A. remains in question.

Nevertheless, this shouldn't take away from the fact that the process has been unfair to other candidates that, experience-wise at least, perhaps deserved a chance over JJ. The obvious guys on that list are Sam Cassell and Phil Handy.

We can only wait and see how JJ will respond to the outside noise and whether he'll prove that he deserves to be the head coach of one of the league's most storied franchises.

Related: "Went to Duke, had a lot of pressure his entire career" - Paul Geroge's initial reaction to JJ Redick becoming Lakers' coach