Browsing: Redick

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  Dave McMenaminSep 25, 2025, 07:14 PM ET

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  • Lakers and NBA reporter for ESPN.
  • Covered the Lakers and NBA for ESPNLosAngeles.com from 2009-14, the Cavaliers from 2014-18 for ESPN.com and the NBA for NBA.com from 2005-09.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — While LeBron James enters his eighth season with the Los Angeles Lakers in a contract year, coach JJ Redick’s future with the team is much clearer after being signed to an extension.

The lack of a long-term pact between the Lakers and the 40-year-old James, who in June picked up the $52.6 million option for the 2025-26 season, has fueled speculation about the superstar’s future with the team set to open training camp next week.

Rob Pelinka, president of basketball operations and general manager, insisted Thursday that the Lakers hope to remain in the LeBron business as long as the four-time champion wants to be with them.

“The first thing we want to do in terms of LeBron and his future is just give him absolute respect to choose his story with his family in terms of how many years he’s going to continue to play,” Pelinka said at his season-opening news conference. “He’s earned that right.”

LeBron James, who in June picked up the $52.6 million option on his deal for the 2025-26 season, is entering this season in a contract year for the first time as a member of the Lakers. Meg Oliphant/Getty Images

Pelinka said the Lakers built a “really competitive, strong team” with which to win for both James and Luka Doncic.

The GM said he would defer to James, who is entering a record-setting 23rd season, on questions about how much longer he intended to play before retiring. The team’s media day is scheduled for Monday.

Pelinka was then asked if the Lakers would be interested in re-signing James in summer 2026, if he he wanted to extend his career.

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“We would love if LeBron’s story would be he retired a Laker,” Pelinka said, echoing a sentiment he has shared before. “That would be a positive story.”

Though James’ future remains in flux, Pelinka announced the team’s commitment to Redick, its second-year coach who signed a four-year deal in June 2024. Though terms of the new deal were not announced, sources told ESPN’s Shams Charania that it was a multiyear extension.

“Just to make it clear that he’s the basketball leader in terms of our coaching and on-court performance,” Pelinka said of the motivation to extend Redick after he won 50 games and secured the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference in his first season as coach.

Pelinka said the decision came down to “confidence and belief” in the former 15-year NBA veteran, who joined the Lakers without previous head coaching experience.

“We think he’s a special coach with a special voice that’s really helping us define the culture of Lakers excellence,” Pelinka said. “We just wanted to make a clear statement that this is what we believe in, what we’re going to lean into and what our players are going to mold into as we continue to develop the identity. I think having long-term planning is helpful as we build this team and go forward.”

Redick expressed gratitude to Pelinka, Lakers acting governor Jeanie Buss and new Lakers owner Mark Walter for the opportunity.

“It’s not lost on me, this sort of rarity of a first-time head coach getting an extension,” Redick said Thursday. “I recognize how fortunate I am to be in an organization that supports me in that way.”

Redick spoke about connecting with James and Doncic during the summer and expressed confidence in both coming into the season.

“[James is] in a great spot mentally and know he’s going to give us his absolute best,” Redick said. “… I expect the best version of Luka, and it’s my job as a coach to bring that out on a daily basis.”

Redick offered less clarity on the players who will surround the star tandem, with no announcement about the rest of his starters the way he did a year ago.

“It’s not that important to me,” Redick said when asked about the starters. “I haven’t spent a ton of time thinking about it. We certainly have a number of players — seven or eight starter-level players in the NBA. I do know this: I did say that last year. And that starting lineup started eight games together to start the season, and we started 24 lineups throughout the year.

“Not going to spend too much time banging my head against the wall on that before we have a practice.”

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A question was posed to Rob Pelinka and JJ Redick on Thursday during Los Angeles Lakers media day, an inquiry that said the quiet part out loud.

The reporter asked if Pelinka and Redick have had conversations with LeBron James about, in the reporter’s words, “the transition that we are seeing take place from this kind of going from LeBron’s team to Luka [DonÄić]’s team.”

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Pelinka, the Lakers’ president of basketball operations and general manager, turned to Redick, his newly extended head coach, and Redick stepped up to answer the question that arrived about 16 minutes into the news conference.

“I’ve talked to LeBron fairly frequently and had two great in-person meetings with him,” Redick said.

“One, he finally made it out to The Hamptons, so he and I had dinner in Sag Harbor right around free agency, and then I was able to spend some time with him here in L.A. a couple of weeks ago. And I came away from that thinking that he’s in a great spot mentally, and I know he’s going to give us his absolute best.”

Redick and James co-hosted the “Mind the Game” podcast before Redick was hired as his head coach last June. In their first year together on the Lakers — Redick coaching at 40 years old, and James playing at 40 years old — Los Angeles went 50-32 and secured the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference before falling in five games to the Minnesota Timberwolves during the first round of the playoffs.

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In early February, the Lakers pulled off one of the most surprising trades in sports history, acquiring DonÄić from the Dallas Mavericks. Then, in August, the Lakers signed the 26-year-old DonÄić to a three-year, $165 million max extension.

Meanwhile, according to an ESPN report from July 11, the Lakers didn’t offer James an extension or give him a heads-up about the sale of the franchise from the Buss family to Mark Walter, whereas DonÄić reportedly was clued in about the transaction.

Although James picked up his $52.6 million player option in June, the four-time NBA MVP’s future with the Lakers has remained a hot topic this offseason.

Pelinka was asked earlier in Thursday’s news conference how James being in a contract year affects the Lakers’ team-building process.

“The first thing we want to do in terms of LeBron and his future is just give him absolute respect to choose his story with his family in terms of how many years he’s going to continue to play,” Pelinka said.

“He’s earned that right, and he’s the best one to talk about that in terms of how many years he’d like to play. But we were very intentional this summer in terms of the pieces we added with Luka and LeBron — once LeBron opted in — making sure that they had the necessary pieces around them to be on a really competitive, strong team. And we built into that and for that.”

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A follow-up question was directed Pelinka’s way, inquiring for the GM’s feelings about the possibility of James wanting to play for the Lakers beyond the 2025-26 campaign.

“We would love if LeBron’s story would be to retire as a Laker,” Pelinka said, doubling down on his Aug. 2 comments.

“That’d be a positive story.”

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EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — J.J. Redick showed he could handle the job in his first season as the Los Angeles Lakers head coach, leading the team to 50 wins and the No. 3 seed.

That was enough for general manager Rob Pelinka and the Lakers organization to give Redick a contract extension, Pelinka announced Thursday.

“Confidence and belief,†Pelinka said as to why he wanted to give his coach an extension after just one season. “We think heâ€s a special coach with a special voice thatâ€s really helping us to continue to define the culture of Lakers excellence. We just wanted to make a clear statement that this is what we believe in, what weâ€re going to lean into, and what our players are going to mold into as we continue to develop the identity. I think having long-term planning is helpful as we build this team and go forward.â€

There were no details on the extension, but Redick had three years remaining on the contract he signed just more than a year ago. A good guess is that this aligns Redickâ€s contract with Pelinkaâ€s.

“I think it starts with just a high level of gratitude to the Lakers, to Mark [Walters, incoming team owner], Jeannie [Buss, team governor], and Rob for having that confidence in me,†Redick said. “And itâ€s not lost on me the sort of rarity of a first-time head coach getting an extension. Like I recognize how fortunate I am to be with an organization that supports me that way.â€

Redick also discussed what he learned in his first year on the job, and how he plans to approach it in the future.

“I thought about a lot of things. You certainly reflect on the previous season, both successes and failures, and you do a lot of self-assessment, and that was really where I spent a lot of the first probably four to six weeks, was on sort of self-assessment,†Redick said of his offseason. “But I would say the two words that immediately, when you ask that question, pop into my mind are philosophy and methodology, the philosophy of how we want to play, the methodology as a coach of how I want to teach that. And so thatâ€s where I spent a lot of time this summer.â€

Redick and Pelinka talked all things Lakers for more than half an hour at the Lakers practice facility in the days before training camp opens next Tuesday. Among the topics covered:

• LeBron James†future in Los Angeles. Entering his 23rd season, when he will turn 41, LeBron remains a crucial part of the Lakers†attack this season. He will also be a free agent after this season. Will he return to the Lakers? Retire?

“The first thing we want to do in terms of LeBron and his future is just give him absolute respect to choose his story with his family in terms of how many years heâ€s going to continue to play,†Pelinka said. “Heâ€s earned that right.â€

Pelinka added, as he has before, that he would love LeBron to retire a Laker. Whether that happens or not is another question.

• Luka Doncicâ€s leadership. The Lakers signed Luka Doncic to an extension, and as part of that process, Pelinka and Buss traveled to Poland to meet with him and watch him play in a EuroBasket game for Slovenia. Outside of Doncic looking fit, it was his leadership that impressed Pelinka.

“I think the thing that probably stood out among many things… just his overall leadership tone and how he not only led by example, but he was very demonstrative in the practice in terms of his expectations of the team, how they played, their togetherness,†Pelinka said. “And I think just seeing that continued evolution and growth with him is not only a leader by example, but a leader with his voice really stood out to me, and I think itâ€s something thatâ€s going to carry into camp this year.â€

Doncic was shocked when he was traded in the middle of last season, then landed on a team with the commanding presence of LeBron in the locker room. Understandably, Doncic didnâ€t walk in the door a vocal leader, but that may change this season.

As for his improved conditioning, Redick said this is not just a one-summer thing, but rather a new routine.

“I get the sense from talking to him all summer or spending time with him, not only just here but at the Backstreet Boys, that this is his life now,†Redick said. “This is his routine. This is just a daily commitment to the new standard that heâ€s set for himself.â€

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The Lakers kicked off their summer break by signing their star player to a contract extension in a flashy news conference featuring Balkan walk-up music and a photo gallery display of Luka Doncicâ€s best Lakers moments. The team returned Thursday by announcing their continued commitment to their coach.

Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka announced head coach JJ Redick had signed a contract extension at a news conference with the coach as the Lakers begin training camp next Tuesday.

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Redick signed a four-year, $32-million contract last year as a first-time head coach and led the Lakers to a 50-32 regular-season record and the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference before losing to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of playoffs. The terms of the new deal were not announced.

“We think heâ€s a special coach with a special voice thatâ€s really helping us define the culture of Lakers excellence,†Pelinka said. “We just wanted to make a clear statement that this is what we believe in, what weâ€re going to lean into and what our players are going to mold into as we continue to develop the identity. I think having long-term planning is helpful as we build this team and go forward.â€

Redickâ€s extension was one of the finishing touches on what Pelinka called “an intentional and productive offseason.†The Lakers touted major additions of center Deandre Ayton and perimeter players Marcus Smart and Jake LaRavia who were each hand-selected for their fits around Doncic and LeBron James.

James opted into the final year of his contract, and Doncic signed a three-year extension on the first day the Lakers could offer in August.

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After a blockbuster midseason trade brought the former Dallas Maverick to L.A. in February, Doncic and James will enter their first full season together with questions about how the Lakers can best balance the 40-year-old James and his 26-year-old fellow star.

Redick, who said he had two productive in-person meetings with James this offseason, will oversee the leagueâ€s most-watched transfer of power.

Redick recognized that joining the Lakers brings consistent pressure. Then he was also transitioning from broadcasting to coaching while moving cities, settling his children into new schools and adjusting to a seismic midseason trade. Redickâ€s first year came with little time to reflect or process.

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After the Lakers were eliminated from the first round of the playoffs, Redick paused to consider his new career. He ruminated for weeks on how to define his philosophy as a coach and his methodology. He searched for answers in meetings with Rams coach Sean McVay, former NFL quarterback Tom Brady and Bradyâ€s former New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick.

Through their conversations, he came away with a simple strategy to achieve success.

“We’re going to ask guys to be in championship shape, have championship communication and championship habits,†Redick said. “That’s a daily commitment to that.â€

James, who will start an unprecedented 23rd NBA season next week, has always been committed to those pillars, Redick said. Doncic has followed suit.

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The Slovenian superstarâ€s rebuilt and slimmed down body was the talk of the NBA summer after major magazine profiles in Menâ€s Health and the Wall Street Journal. The offseason work paid off in EuroBasket, where Doncic averaged 34.7 points, 8.6 rebounds and 7.1 assists in Sloveniaâ€s run to the quarterfinals. He was named to the tournamentâ€s five-man All-Star team.

But after traveling to Poland to not only watch Doncic play but to observe Slovenian team practices, Pelinka came away just as impressed by Doncicâ€s off-court habits as his on-court game.

“How he not only led by example, but he was very demonstrative in the practice in terms of his expectations of the team, how they played, their togetherness,†Pelinka said. “Just seeing that continued evolution and growth with him as not only a leader by example but a leader with his voice really stood out to me.â€

Redick noted Doncicâ€s improved movement and defense during the European competition, and the coach expects to see the same version of the star guard stateside.

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“I expect the best version of Luka,†Redick said, “and itâ€s my job as a coach to bring that out on a daily basis.â€

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

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Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick told reporters that he spent time with Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay and seven-time Super Bowl winning quarterback Tom Brady this summer, as relayed by Dan Woike of The Athletic.

McVay is the youngest hired coach in the NFL’s modern era at 30 years and 354 days old. He’s entering his ninth NFL season with the Rams, who have enjoyed great success under their leader. L.A. has notably won two NFC titles and a Super Bowl with McVay at the helm, making the playoffs six times and enjoying winning seasons in all but one of his campaigns.

Brady played in the NFL from 2000-2022, winning six Super Bowls with the New England Patriots and another one with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The former sixth-round draft pick out of Michigan made 10 Super Bowls overall during his career while winning three NFL MVP awards and making 15 Pro Bowls.

Obviously, those two are good influences for Redick as he embarks upon his second season on the Laker sidelines.

Redick, a former NBA guard, ESPN analyst and podcaster, just led L.A. to a 50-32 record, good enough for the third seed in the Western Conference playoffs. However, L.A. fell in five games to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round.

This year’s team could very well fare better after adding a few key pieces, including a sorely needed big man in Deandre Ayton and combo guard Marcus Smart, who should provide key backcourt depth.

Of course, the Lakers also return their big three of Luka DonÄić, LeBron James and Austin Reaves as well.

DonÄić, a five-time All-NBA guard who was acquired in a blockbuster trade with the Dallas Mavericks last February, notably signed a three-year, $165 million extension that keeps him with the team through at least 2028.

L.A. will begin its regular season on Oct. 21 with a home game against the Golden State Warriors.

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Los Angeles Lakers president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka rattled off his team’s offseason accomplishments Thursday at a Lakers media availability.

He mentioned the Lakers signing center Deandre Ayton, bringing aboard wings Jake LaRavia and Marcus Smart and, of course, inking Luka DonÄić to a three-year, $165 million max extension. Pelinka also noted four-time NBA champion and four-time league MVP LeBron James picking up his $52.6 million player option.

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But then, in that same opening statement, Pelinka subtly dropped some news:

“And in addition to that, too, recently extending JJ’s [Redick] contract just to make it clear that he’s the basketball leader, in terms of our coaching and on-court performance.”

The Lakers hired Redick last year, signing him to a four-year deal at the time despite his lack of NBA coaching experience and limited coaching experience overall.

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Now they’ve extended the 41-year-old player-turned-coach ahead of the 2025-26 season.

Redick led the Lakers to a 50-32 record and the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference last season before Los Angeles bowed out to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the playoffs.

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“Rob and I, we have a lot of the same philosophies on life, and one of the words we always talk about is ‘gratitude,'” Redick said Thursday, when asked about receiving the extension.

“And so I think it starts with just a high level of gratitude to the Lakers, to [Lakers majority owner] Mark [Walter], Jeanie [Buss] and Rob for having that confidence in me. It’s not lost on me, the sort of rarity of a first-time head coach getting an extension. I recognize how fortunate I am to be with an organization that supports me that way.”

The Lakers are showing a lot of confidence in second-year head coach JJ Redick. (Photo by Keith Birmingham/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images)

(MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images via Getty Images)

Pelinka was asked why he extended Redick now, after just the first year of Redick’s four-year contract.

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“Confidence and belief,” Pelinka said.

“We think he’s a special coach with a special voice that’s really helping us to continue to define the culture of Lakers excellence, and we just wanted to make a clear statement that this is what we believe in, what we’re going to lean into and what our players are going to mold into as we continue to develop the identity. I think having long-term planning is helpful as we build this team and go forward.”

Redick had the luxury of a full offseason this time around. Last year, he got the Lakers head-coaching job in late June. Pivoting from a media career in which he served as an ESPN analyst and notably co-hosted the “Mind the Game” podcast with James, Redick had to quickly stitch together a coaching staff and gear up for an 82-game season that he last experienced in 2020-21 as a reserve guard first for the New Orleans Pelicans and then for the Dallas Mavericks.

After that six-month sprint — which included the Lakers trading for DonÄić and then Redick having to figure out how to maximize the talents of ball-dominant superstars in DonÄić and James, plus where burgeoning guard Austin Reaves fit into the equation — Redick finally had a chance to come up for air.

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“I thought about a lot of things,” Redick explained. “You certainly reflect on the previous season, both successes and failures, and you do a lot of self-assessment, and that was really where I spent a lot of the first probably four to six weeks.

“But I would say the two words that pop into my mind are philosophy and methodology: the philosophy of how we want to play, the methodology as a coach of how I want to teach that. And so that’s where I spent a lot of time this summer.”

Redick explained Thursday that, in May, a few weeks after his Lakers lost to the Timberwolves in five games, he met up with Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay.

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Redick said he knows McVay through former Rams and Cincinnati Bengals offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth. Redick tried to meet up with McVay before last season, but he couldn’t find the time in the chaos of his massive career, and life, transition.

This offseason, Redick had the time.

“I got about three hours along with Sean, and we were picking each other’s brains,” Redick said. “It was very helpful. One of the takeaways from that was ‘utility plays.'”

Redick brought up the anecdote when he was asked about his progression in piecing together the best offense for DonÄić, James and Reaves.

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“That’s something that is a football term,” Redick said of the “utility plays” McVay spoke of, “and I think every basketball team has those utility plays, and so the utility plays are plays where all three of those guys feel involved in some capacity, and they’re sharing the court together.”

In addition to spending some time with seven-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback Tom Brady this summer, and asking him about how Bill Belichick coached the dynastic New England Patriots, Redick said he met with a lot of NBA coaches earlier this month when he was in Chicago.

“So, again, it’s really just about continued growth for myself, for my staff, and I feel like we all are in a good place to serve this basketball team and our players,” Redick said.

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