JJ Redick Needed A Staff With Experience, And That’s Exactly What He Got

Los Angeles Lakers Vice President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Rob Pelinka made it clear during JJ Redick’s introductory press conference that “experience” would play a significant role in filling out the team’s coaching staff.

“Clearly leaning into that experience with the front of the bench coaches and finding hopefully a couple guys that are former head coaches I think is going to set [Redick] up for support, and at the end of the day, that’s what we’re most interested in, is making sure we help [Redick] select and build a staff that sets him and the team up for success,” Pelinka said during the press conference back on June 24.

Flash forward almost a month later and Pelinka and the Lakers have done just that – built an experienced coaching staff for their first-time head coach.

Redick had a 15-year playing career in the NBA. In his retirement, he proved he was a capable candidate to lead a team given the understanding of game analysis he showed at the broadcast table and on his podcasts. That doesn’t mean he can’t benefit from a staff which may just be one of the league’s most tenured groups this upcoming season.

Here’s who the Lakers have hired to work alongside Redick on the sidelines next season:

Nate McMillan

On July 3, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski first reported Nate McMillan would be joining the Lakers' staff. Like Redick, Nate McMillan played in the NBA before he went into coaching. McMillan played for the Seattle Supersonics for 12 years from 1986 to 1998 and rejoined Seattle the following season as an assistant coach.

McMillan’s first head coaching gig came with the Supersonics at the turn of the century in 2000 and he was at the helm in Seattle until 2005. His longest tenure with a team came in Portland, where he served as head coach of the Trail Blazers from 2005 to 2012.

McMillan's other head coaching gigs, which have been mixed in with some assistant roles, have come with the Indiana Pacers and most recently the Atlanta Hawks. In Atlanta, McMillan led a Hawks team with Trae Young and Dejounte Murray before ultimately getting fired midseason in 2023.

McMillan, who has a 760-668 head coaching record all time, brings decades of sideline experience to the Lakers’ bench. He will have no trouble working with Redick, whom he coached against throughout his career.

Scott Brooks

Scott Brooks is perhaps most famous for leading the Oklahoma City Thunder to an NBA Finals appearance in the early careers of eventual MVPs Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden.

Brooks played professionally himself prior to his coaching career. He bounced around in basketball minor leagues and then made his way to the NBA as part of six different teams from 1988 to 1998. Most notably as a player, Brooks won a championship with the Houston Rockets in 1994 alongside players like Hakeem Olajuwon and Kenny Smith.

Brooks’ first NBA coaching role was as an assistant for the Denver Nuggets, a job he held from 2003 to 2006. After assistant roles with the Sacramento Kings and Supersonics – where he narrowly missed McMillan’s stint with the team – he led Seattle and then Oklahoma City once the franchise moved from 2007 to 2015.

Brooks' only other head coaching gig was with the Washington Wizards from 2016 to 2021. He was most recently an assistant for the Portland Trail Blazers, helping navigate the first season in a post-Damian Lillard era for the franchise.

Like McMillan, Brooks, who also coached against Redick, was announced as an assistant for the Lakers on July 3. Brooks has a 521-414 all-time coaching record and was the NBA’s Coach of the Year in 2010 .

Brooks has had his fair share of leading superstar tandems with Durant and Westbrook in Oklahoma City and John Wall and Bradley Beal in Washington. He'll be no stranger to working with the likes of LeBron James and Anthony Davis in Los Angeles.

Lindsey Harding

Lindsey Harding is the most recent addition to Redick’s staff, as Wojnarowski reported on July 16.

Harding is just the fifteenth female assistant coach in NBA history and will be one of three female coaches in the league this upcoming season. The other two are Jenny Boucek of the Pacers and Brittni Donaldson of the Hawks.

This milestone hire seems fitting for the Lakers, given team president Jeanie Buss was the first female owner to add a championship to her resume with Los Angeles back in 2020.

Harding spent the last two seasons in Sacramento, one as an assistant coach for the NBA's Kings and one as head coach of their G-League franchise, the Stockton Kings. Back in April, Harding was named the G-League’s Coach of the Year , leading Stockton to a league-best 24-10 finish during the 2023-24 season.

Before getting into coaching, Harding had successful playing careers at Duke, in the WNBA, and overseas. Not only was Harding named the Naismith College Player of the Year in 2007, but that same year, she was picked number one overall in the WNBA Draft by the Phoenix Mercury.

Harding’s WNBA career spanned from 2007 to 2017, where she spent time with the Minnesota Lynx, Washington Mystics, Atlanta Dream, Los Angeles Sparks, New York Liberty and Mercury in between stints overseas.

Harding will assist both the Lakers’ offense and defense, as she was a First Team All-American and two-time ACC Defensive Player of the Year at Duke. She will also be an asset in the player development component.

Harding's time spent in the G-League developing young players will prove invaluable with recent Lakers draftees Bronny James Jr. and Dalton Knecht. Her experience will also serve her well in working with players entering their second and third seasons like Maxwell Lewis and Max Christie.

Suffice it to say, Redick will be in good hands with McMillan, Brooks and Harding on his bench come the start of the NBA regular season in October.