Coaching the Los Angeles Lakers isn’t a task for the fainthearted. JJ Redick stepped up to the plate this past offseason to take on the mantle of head coach and for the most part, seems to be on a decent, upwards trajectory. Though, with signs of the purple and gold faltering seeping through the cracks, Lou Williams proposes quite the idea.
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“We need to get a snapshot of him right now and how he looks, how young he is. Let’s see how he looks at the end of the season. You know how they do presidents, with Barack Obama. Same thing with JJ Redick and see how much this job is going to age him in the season.”
Let’s come back to this at the end of the season @MichelleDBeadle | @TeamLou23 | @ChandlerParsons pic.twitter.com/DTI0uFZINi
— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) November 26, 2024
Using former President Barack Obama as an example here is quite perfect. His youthful exuberance was on full display at the start of his first term in 2008 and in merely 8 years, he seemed to have aged “30 years” as pointed out by Michelle Beadle.
Redick currently has an incredibly clean-cut look. The gelled up, slicked back hair with little to no grays showing, barely any creases on his face due to not having frowned as much on the sidelines; these are all signs of a fairly healthy head coach.
The Lakers however, are 10-7 in their first 17 games to start the year off. While it is refreshing to see the team get off to a start with a winning record, many forget that last year’s squad under Darvin Ham started the season off 10-7. So, it wouldn’t be shocking to see JJ age quite rapidly while racking his brain over not suffering the same fate as the 2024 LakeShow.
Lakers losses affect JJ to his very core
“I go to a very dark place,” said JJ after the loss to the Magic a couple days ago. It was a scrappy loss against an extremely physical Banchero-less Orlando squad that ended with Franz Wagner draining the game-winning deep three.
Redick’s comments came in response to Rachel Nichols asking him how he deals with losses. The quote without any context seems to be more existential than it actually is. He would go on to clarify that he quite literally goes to a dark place i.e. the basement to go watch film.
Describing himself as a ‘sicko’ on a few occasions, this isn’t surprising to hear from him in the slightest. His short-lived ‘Mind The Game’ podcast with LeBron James showed off just how much of an ‘X’s and O’s’ man he was when it comes to being meticulous with every set he ran for his team.
The Lakers are set to go through a mini gauntlet the next few games against teams like the Suns, Spurs, Wolves, and Heat. So, expect JJ to perhaps fast-track his descent into ‘aging horribly’ quicker than anticipated.
