“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

After two rocky seasons with Darvin Ham leading the team, the Los Angeles Lakers decided to fire him this offseason and find his replacement. While they initially set their sights on UConn’s Dan Hurley, he turned down their offer, resulting in the Lakers turning to JJ Redick instead.

Given his importance to the franchise, many believed LeBron James played some sort of a role in the hiring process, especially since his friend Redick ended up getting the job. However, according to Brian Windhorst , it doesn’t sound like that’s the case at all.

Windhorst shoots down the notion LeBron was involved in Lakers head coach search

LeBron is gearing up for his seventh season with the Lakers, and Redick is now set to become the fourth head coach he’s played for during his time in LA. Many folks believe that James has been involved in the hiring and firing of each of these coaches in one way or another.

Given how the Lakers want to keep LeBron happy, it would make sense for the team to include him in their head coach search. Windhorst claims that James played no role in hiring Redick, though, and that he’s never been involved in any of LA’s head coaching decisions.

“LeBron doesn’t get involved in coaching hires,” Brian Windhorst said on The Dan Patrick Show . “For years, for many, many coaches, he’s always taken a distance. In fact, I can’t say this for every candidate, but he generally has a rule that he won’t engage with a candidate. After the coach has been hired, of course he’ll have a conversation with the coach. Generally, he wants to stay out of it. He doesn’t want it on his hands.”

“I know there’s this belief that LeBron hires and fires all these coaches, and maybe he does hurt coaches, he sort of kills them with a thousand paper cuts, but LeBron is very sensitive to that and he does not want to be involved in that. It’s not gonna be like he’s gonna go into Rob Pelinka and say, ‘Hey, I’m having a great time with JJ. You should hire him.’ That’s just not reality,” Windhorst added.

One way or another, the Lakers hired LeBron James’ friend JJ Redick

Darvin Ham, Frank Vogel, and Luke Walton have seen issues arise with James since he arrived in Los Angeles. A championship for Vogal and a run to the Western Conference Finals for Ham wasn’t enough to keep either of them in town for very long.

The common denominator in the eyes of many is LeBron, as fans believe the organization is simply trying to keep him happy. Add in the arrival of Redick, which further supports that theory, even though the team made a massive push to lure Hurley away from the Huskies.

These sorts of rumors tend to get overblown, and Windhorst believes that’s simply what is happening here. He knows the perception is that James is the one influencing these decisions, but it appears that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Yet James inadvertently got his way when Hurley turned down the Lakers, forcing them to hire Redick instead. Regardless of the role he played in his hiring, LeBron will surely hope that Redick can help the Lakers bounce back after their trying 2023-24 campaign.

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