Lakers Owner Jeanie Buss Provides Details On Why Team Hired JJ Redick

The Los Angeles Lakers’ decision to hire former NBA shooting guard JJ Redick to become the historic franchise’s next head coach was a little surprising. While Redick’s name had been circling through the NBA world, his lack of experience seemed to make his hire a bit of a risky proposition.

However, the Lakers continued on vetting Redick and determined that he was the person they wanted to take over for Darvin Ham. Since his retirement from playing, Redick has been around the game of basketball as both a podcaster and broadcaster for ESPN.

He brings a new sense of life to the Lakers and if anything, should give them a more modern style of offense. During his introductory press conference, Redick said that he wants the team to shoot a lot more 3-pointers this coming season.

We have heard excitement coming from the Lakers about the Redick hire. The organization is high on his upside despite his lack of a coaching resume, but one person we haven’t heard much from is owner Jeanie Buss.

That all changed this week when she appeared on the Los Angeles radio show “Petros and Money.” She provided some details about why the team ultimately decided to go with Redick as the head coach.

“We wanted to kind of think a different way,” Buss said. “Really, he’s got a vision. I’m not comfortable talking about the basketball stuff, but we were looking for a candidate that would bring something different and really invest in developing young players. JJ is the right person for us. Again, I just want the work to really speak for itself, so I don’t want to hype it and say it’s gonna be a home run. We have to give him time to establish what he wants to establish.”

With the new CBA now in effect, the way that teams build rosters will change. No longer can organizations build out teams with more than two superstar players unless they want to suffer extreme penalties within the salary cap, plus team-building restrictions.

The Lakers have been preaching player development all offseason, a far cry from where the championship-driven team normally goes. Los Angeles believes that Redick can help develop young players on the team to maximize the stars on the roster.

With All-NBA legends LeBron James and Anthony Davis still on the team, Redick is being tasked with an almost impossible mission. But the 15-year NBA veteran seems ready for the challenge.

He is a very confident individual and believes he can help Los Angeles grab title No. 18. Having the support of Buss certainly helps and could go a long way in how successful the Lakers are during the Redick tenure.

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