Beginning with the 2024–25 season, JJ Redick will assume head coaching duties for the Los Angeles Lakers. Since being appointed, the rookie coach has already taken a lot of heat for taking the position without any prior coaching experience. Concurrently, pundits such as Skip Bayless have criticized LeBron James’ involvement in Redick’s selection. Now that the relocation is complete, though, the seasoned reporter is focusing on the power struggles within the Lakers hierarchy.
As a matter of fact, Bayless openly referred to James as the Lake Show’s “lead assistant,” implying that the 39-year-old might as well assume the position of player-coach.
Skip Bayless doesn’t favour JJ Redick
For a variety of reasons, Skip Bayless is reportedly not a fan of JJ Redick’s most recent employment. One of them is that, should the season not work out, King James will now have the freedom to manage the Lakers without being burdened with any obligations.
The former ESPN analyst shared his thoughts on the high risk/high return aspect of Redick’s contract on his FS1 show “Undisputed.” Speaking to his fellow presenters, the 72-year-old said,
“I get [the] high risk [part in the saying that this is a high risk-high reward situation] because it’s the highest risk. But I don’t get high reward because how can you know! This move is completely unknowable at this point because you have no track record…JJ Redick only played basketball.”
“And he [JJ] was a pretty good player for a very long time…but was he considered a dynamic leader as a player? No. Not really…not a team leader, not a point guard!”
“This move is completely unknowable. You have no track record.”@RealSkipBayless questions the Lakers-JJ Redick hire pic.twitter.com/URKbkpLlSN
— UNDISPUTED (@undisputed) June 21, 2024
Essentially, the FS1 expert was trying to convey that Redick will serve as LBJ’s stand-in while he is head coach. He further stated,
“All I know is when we talk about building a staff. The truth is, the lead assistant for the Lakers is now LeBron James,”
He was quick to note that Redick will be facing seasoned pros in the game like Jason Kidd and Joe Mazzulla in his role as a rookie coach. Bayless was highly sceptical of Redick’s relationship with LeBron James, saying
“I think he [LeBron James] kinda has the chance to be a player-coach because he and JJ are obviously close from the podcast and they have a good connection on the podcast. I don’t know how close they are off the field or off the floor.”
