JJ Redick: Being a sicko and a masochist motivated him to become a coach

The fan base of the Los Angeles Lakers still seems divided on the hire of JJ Redick as the team’s new head coach. While he seems to have a bright mind and the potential to become a strong tactician, he has virtually no coaching experience at all. He also hosted the “Mind the Game” podcast with LeBron James, which has made some skeptical that he will coach the 39-year-old superstar properly.

Some also have likely wondered why Redick would want to become a head coach anyway when he was a successful podcaster, not to mention a member of ESPN’s NBA broadcast crew. During the Lakers’ summer league game on Friday, he gave some insight into why (at 5:05).

“I felt a calling to coach,” said Redick. “Part of that is that I’m just a sicko, and I’m a masochist, and I want to sign up for high stakes, high pressure. The other is in my retirement, I realize what gives me fulfillment and what gives me drive and motivation, and that’s competition. That’s performance. That’s collaboration, being part of a team. I certainly felt all of that doing media. The other parts of that are leadership and service, and I said this at my press conference. Like a big driving factor in this for me is I just want to help people. I want to help players. I want to help coaches. I want to empower people. I want to help this Lakers organization get back to the top.”

Redick hasn’t been coaching the Lakers’ summer league team, but he has been involved. Obviously, no one will truly know how good (or bad) a head coach he will be until the new NBA season starts and the Lakers have been presented with a number of different situations that will challenge them.