JJ Redick signed up to become the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers , fully aware of the high expectations of anyone who takes on that role. The Lakers are all about winning championships and while Redick has embraced that challenge, he stated on The Lowe Post that you need some luck to get over the line.
“If you look back at the history of the NBA, there are very few championships that have been won where there wasn't — Doc used to use the word “luck” and everybody got mad at him for saying that — but there is some luck involved.," Redick said. "... When he was talking about luck, that goes into avoiding your star player getting banged up in the playoffs... An outlier hot streak within a certain player in a playoff series.
"There's a lot of things that have to go right and not a lot that can go wrong to win a championship," Redick continued. "Having said that, the mindset that we have to create is about embracing the process of trying to get better everyday, being super detailed, being super organized, having structure - giving players freedom within that structure."
Almost every title-winning team has indeed got a bit lucky along the way. If you just look at the recent NBA champions, they all got some lucky breaks.
Last season, the Boston Celtics were fortunate because Jimmy Butler , Donovan Mitchell, and Tyrese Haliburton all went down with injuries. The year before, the Denver Nuggets didn't have to go up against Naz Reid and Jaden McDaniels when they took on the Minnesota Timberwolves.
In 2022, the Golden State Warriors faced a Nuggets team that was without Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. They then saw Ja Morant get injured when they took on the Memphis Grizzlies.
Go back a year further, and the Milwaukee Bucks got lucky when Kyrie Irving got injured when they faced the Brooklyn Nets. James Harden was also hobbled in that series and I can just go on and on when listing all the lucky breaks that title-winning teams have gotten.
The point that Redick was trying to get across, is that one should only be concerned about things in their control. The 40-year-old wants the Lakers' culture to be about sticking to the processes that have been put in place. Redick firmly believes that doing so will set them on the path to success, but they're likely to need a bit of luck too, if they are to win it all.
JJ Redick Isn't Concerned About LeBron James And Anthony Davis' Busy Summer
While most of the players on the Lakers have had a lot of time off this offseason, that's not the case for their two superstars. Both LeBron James and Anthony Davis featured heavily for Team USA at the 2024 Paris Olympics and are coming into the season with a much shorter break than usual. Despite that, Redick isn't concerned about James or Davis.
"I mean, look, those guys are professionals in every sense of the word. My concern for them about whether or not they'll be ready to play on Oct. 22 and be in shape, I don’t have that concern."
"We're gonna work with Mike and Ish, making sure that they feel like they're in a great place to start the regular season. They'll certainly be involved in training camp and preseason even here in September, as well as games."
Considering James and Davis have had their struggles with staying healthy in the past, I am a bit concerned. They both surprisingly didn't miss much time last season, but as they get older, the likelihood of it happening again gets slimmer. I hope for Redick's sake that these two stay upright when the Lakers get to the playoffs.
Related: JJ Redick Has A Theory For Why Anthony Davis' Jump Shot Declined But Doesn't Want To Share It
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