JJ Redick is a lot more comfortable in his skin now than he was when the Lakers first handed him the job.
At practice on Wednesday, Redick opened up about the early stretch of his coaching career and admitted the role felt unfamiliar at first. The 42-year-old, who had never coached at the high school, college or NBA level before taking over in Los Angeles in 2024, said the adjustment was real.
“As I reflected this summer, probably shouldn’t admit this, but early in my coaching career, it felt like I was cosplaying a little bit,” Redick said, via Infanity TV. “And I was like I was pretending to be a coach.
And I just think you get more reps, you get more comfortable. I don’t think the confidence was ever not there, and you also just know what you want.”
That early uncertainty showed up in how he carried himself. Redick said he was still figuring out how to present himself in a job he had never done before, and he believes that can make a person come off more performative than natural.
Now, the public version of Redick looks different. He still holds his players accountable on the floor and in front of reporters, but the edge has softened some as he’s settled into the job. He said he can’t pinpoint the exact moment that happened.
“I don’t remember the exact moment,” Redick said. “I think I got more and more comfortable throughout the early part of my first season.”
That first season did not begin cleanly. The Lakers were 13-12 through Redick’s first 25 games in charge in 2024-25, and the critics who questioned the hire started circling. But the season turned, and it turned hard.
Los Angeles was 32-20 at the All-Star break and finished 50-32. Redick also had to work Luka Doncic into the mix midway through the campaign, and the results were good enough to quiet plenty of noise around him.
He backed that up with a 53-29 mark in 2025-26, giving the Lakers back-to-back 50-win seasons to start his coaching career. Redick has benefited from a loaded roster that has included Doncic, LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Austin Reaves, but he has clearly grown into the position as well.
Redick explained that experience has changed how he approaches the job day to day.
“You’ve done things enough, and you build out plans throughout the summer and the preseason,” Redick said. “You recognize those plans often will have to change, and you’ll have to adapt.
But just feeling more comfortable with everything, whether that’s teaching on the court. I had a great revelation towards the second half of last year that I talked about with my performance coach this summer.
“Which was just like some of the things that helped me as a player are deterrents for me as a coach,” Redick continued. “I think, particularly with last year’s team, and I don’t know how this year’s team is going to be, but I felt like calm is better.
When I played, I talked with Coach [Mike Krzyzewski] about it this summer. When I played, I played with an anger.
“There was an inner anger that drove my competitiveness,” Redick added. “That’s not always a good thing as a coach, particularly now.
So, yeah, just working through all that stuff. But I think the biggest thing is just like intrinsic knowledge.
You do things enough, you just feel more comfortable.”
Redick’s willingness to adjust is part of why he appears positioned to stay in Los Angeles for the long haul. He signed a four-year, $32 million deal in 2024 and received a two-year extension in 2025, leaving him under contract through 2029-30.
For now, Redick is focused on training camp and said he has three goals for the Lakers. He said he likes what he’s seeing from the group and is already looking ahead to 2026-27.
In Other News...
Lakers Teammate Just Pushed Luka Doncic Into A Wild New Debate
Training camp has opened with new faces around Luka Doncic, and even before the first preseason games, the conversation around the Lakers newest star is already turning lofty. Sandro Mamukelashvili added fuel to it during an ESPN Radio interview, praising Doncic as perhaps the best offensive player in the league right now, a kind of compliment that carries extra weight when it comes from a teammate seeing the day-to-day version up close.
The debate, of course, is bigger than one sound bite. Doncics scoring and playmaking have long invited comparisons to names like Michael Jordan, Kevin Durant and Kobe Bryant, but the final line in his rsum still separates him from the all-time standard-bearers: he has not yet led a team to a championship. For the Lakers, that makes every rave review feel both natural and loaded, because admiration is easy in September, while the real test comes when the season starts asking for more than highlights. [Read more 🡒]
Austin Reaves Sounds Convinced Lakers Finally Fixed Their Biggest Weakness
Austin Reaves spent part of training camp sounding like a player who thinks the Lakers may have finally addressed the issue that has lingered around them for years. After finishing last season 15th in team defensive rating and ninth on offense, Los Angeles entered the 2025-26 campaign knowing it needed more stopgap help on the other end if it wants to be taken seriously as a title threat, and the new arrivals have quickly become part of that conversation.
Reaves pointed to Matisse Thybulle, Ziaire Williams, Adou Thiero and Walker Kessler as additions who bring length, competitiveness and defensive versatility to a roster that could use all of it. The optimism around camp is understandable, but the real question is whether the Lakers can turn those traits into a consistent identity once the games count, because for all their scoring, their championship case likely hinges on whether the defense is finally ready to hold up. [Read more 🡒]
Luka Doncic Had Austin Reaves Cracking Up At Lakers Practice
Luka Doncic brought a little extra energy to Lakers practice, and Austin Reaves could only laugh at it. While Reaves was doing a media interview, Doncic stepped in and drilled a flurry of half-court shots, turning the session into an impromptu shooting display and briefly stealing the rooms attention.
Reaves commented on the streak in the moment, and the video backed it up by showing Doncic make four of five attempts from beyond half court. It was a small snapshot, but it fit the easygoing chemistry and competitive banter the two have already shown while working together this season, with both players carrying meaningful roles for Los Angeles. [Read more 🡒]