Depending on when you asked Lakers fans, they would probably tell you JJ Redick was one of the best head coaches in the league. They would also tell you that JJ Redick was one of the worst.
Redick had an up-and-down season in his first year, receiving plenty of praise and criticism. That should have been expected given that the highest level he had coached before was his son's youth team. It was a learning experience for him, but it was also obvious why he was picked for the job.
As ClutchPoints Lakers insider Anthony Irwin joked, we'd all love to hear what podcaster Redick thought about the job that head coach Redick did. Given that he's temporarily retired from the NBA media circuit, we'll have to settle for my analysis instead.
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Grading JJ Redick's rookie season
Redick's predecessor Darvin Ham was largely vilified by the Lakers fanbase. The thought was Redick could get the same roster to perform better. That theory held in some ways and didn't in others.
The Lakers completely reshaped their roster after trading for Luka Doncic, so comparing Ham to Redick after that point isn't particularly useful. Before that trade though, Redick had his team at 28-19 through its first 47 games. Ham took the same group to a 24-23 record.
Ham's Lakers turned things around in the second part of the year, winning 47 games and securing the No. 7 seed before losing in the first round. Redick improved to 50 wins and the No. 3 seed but suffered a similar playoff fate.
Those numbers suggest the same thing that many have suggested. Redick was pretty good during the regular season and had some issues crop up in the playoffs.
Redick clearly knows the game at an extremely high level. His drawn-up plays showed both creativity and a deep knowledge of what other teams were running. He stole some of the best sets from coaches around the world, including UConn's Dan Hurley.
Redick was also willing to tailor his schemes to his personnel. He reconfigured the Lakers offense around Anthony Davis to start the year, then did it again once Doncic arrived. He found ways to hide Luka's defensive weaknesses, and he maximized LeBron as a brilliant defender.
Redick gets points for that adaptability. He loses some for the results. The Lakers finished the season with the No. 11 offense. The pieces that he was given weren't perfect by any means, but a team with Luka and LeBron should be better than that.
MORE: JJ Redick's transformation from college heel to respected NBA veteran
The Lakers were a slow team that didn't incorporate a ton of ball movement after the Luka trade. Putting the ball in the hands of your best players makes a lot of sense when Redick has so much star power, but he never seemed to find quite the right balance.
Redick also received a ton of criticism for his rotational decisions. He didn't make a single substitution in the second half of the Lakers' Game 4 loss. He defended his decision a day later, claiming the film didn't show any evidence of fatigue.
Along with the obvious fact that LeBron is 40 and played more minutes than his age, the tape doesn't really back Redick up.
No fatigue in the 4th quarter 🤨
— Steph Noh (@StephNoh) April 29, 2025
These are all from the last four minutes of the game. https://t.co/8sJ0TYqH0G pic.twitter.com/i4n8GvJpCN
Redick received a ton of heat for that decision in its aftermath, and his team did make a bunch of mistakes down the stretch that might have been prevented with more rest. But he didn't have any other great options available to him. He tried to switch things up by playing Maxi Kleber in Game 5, and that ended disastrously.
The Lakers knew that their lack of center depth was going to be an issue in the playoffs. Jaxson Hayes was clearly overstressed in that role. They haven't gotten much from their bench guys either outside of Dorian Finney-Smith, who took Hayes' spot in the second half of Game 4.
That game was a must-win for Los Angeles that they couldn't close out. Teams with a 3-1 lead have gone on to win the series 95.5 percent of the time, per Land of Basketball. Redick's decision to run with his best lineup made some sense, but he still should have found at least a few minutes of rest for LeBron.
Redick has had some other issues crop up as well. He's expressed frustration at his team tuned him out during various points in the season. He called out D'Angelo Russell publicly for his lack of effort. And he cursed out his team during Game 2 in what LeBron deemed an example of his coach spazzing out.
MORE: JJ Redick learning lessons the hard way
Every single coach in the league faces these same issues, which Redick is quickly learning. Being a successful head coach is as much about managing people as it is coming up with the perfect strategy. Sometimes yelling works, and sometimes it doesn't. Redick is figuring out that balance.
The widespread criticism that Redick received for some of those low moments shouldn't take away from the fact that he overachieved during the regular season with a roster that wasn't particularly well-constructed. We also only see a tiny sliver of what coaches are actually doing. The best way to judge is on wins, and Redick got a lot of them.
The Lakers should get much better center depth next season and some players that fit better with Luka. They should also get continued improvement from Redick. Rookie coaches get better, just as rookie players do. It wasn't a perfect season, but it was a good one.
Grade: B
MORE LAKERS:
- What's next for Luka, LeBron after first-round playoff exit?
- What went wrong for Lakers during disappointing finish to season?
- Extension deadline, terms of Luka Doncic's contract
- Realistic trade & free agent targets for Lakers in offseason
- What LeBron has said about retirement rumors