JJ Redick was given advice on how to deal with his first day of practice as a new coach with the Lakers.
So on Tuesday, when Redick held his first day of training camp after leaving the television and podcast space to become the leading man of the historic franchise, he knew just what to do.
“When I first took the Lakers job, all of my friends that are coaches in the league told me to ‘delegate,’” Redick said, smiling.
So, the voices of assistant coaches Bob Beyers and Greg St. Jean were prominent throughout the session. Before that, Redick took charge, holding a team meeting Monday night in Beverly Hills to discuss the team’s “identity” for this season.
“One of the things that I’m big on is using time efficiently,” Redick said.. “I haven’t been around LeBron [James] a ton, but I know that’s big for him as well and I think as any NBA player will tell you, like, they really value their time. And I did not want to take time today to have some long meetings. So, I used last night as a meeting to just set the tone for who we are going to be on both ends of the floor and the things that we’re going to value as a group.”
James and Anthony Davis spent much of their summer with Team USA, including winning gold in the Paris Olympics, so they didn’t join the Lakers’ offseason workouts until mid-September. Both got occasional texts from Redick checking in with his stars.
The meeting Monday night set the stage for James’ pursuit of another championship.
“Just setting the standard, setting the course of action and how we expect to play every single night — no matter who is playing,” James said. “It’s not about who is playing. It’s about what we want to do every night. We want to play the same way every single night.”
Redick said there were “certain things” that Beyer and St. Jean were in charge of during the first day. And there were times Redick directed the practice.
“Obviously when we scrimmage, I’m coaching the purple team,” Redick said about the starting unit. “To start each scrimmage, we drew up three ATOs (after-timeout plays). Success rate was pretty good, 66.7%. The only miss was just a little bit off the rim. But we got a clean look and we executed it. I thought overall, again, it goes back to the intent and the focus. Whoever is talking for the coaches, us delivering that with the same language and the same message and getting buy-in, whether it’s a drill or scrimmage, a live action. We did some transition stuff. We did some five-on-five stuff. So it was all really good.”
James is entering his 22nd season and he’s played for many coaches. He was asked if he’ll help Redick with his new schemes.
“Nah, nah, nah. I mean, I’m going to lead by example, lead by my voice,” James said. “My voice is very commanding. But I’ll be an extension of the coaching staff on the floor. But right now, we’re getting our system put in place and not only JJ’s voice is being heard, all the other coaches’ voices are being heard and we’re just all taking it in and dialing it in and trying to be better with it on the floor.”
Redick said he was impressed with most of his players in practice and mentioned young players Jalen Hood-Schifino, Max Christie, Jaxson Hayes, D’Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura as standouts along with Davis and James.
Redick seemed pleased he didn’t go overboard and made sure his assistants had some say.
“I didn’t feel like I did too much,” Redick said. “From the beginning, with each coach, we have been very clear with roles and responsibilities. Part of me being a head coach is empowering my assistants. And so, I think I generally have a good feel for when to use my voice and when not to use my voice.
“And luckily I have two very talkative coaches in Bob Beyer and Greg St. Jean. So, I know my voice will be fine by the end of the week. I’m worried about those two. So, hopefully they’re hydrating.”