![Carmelo Anthony]()
Timing can be a funny thing in the endless news cycle of sports media. Just as talking heads were up in arms over the fact that the Los Angeles Lakers hadn't hired a head coach since
missing out on Dan Hurley, a Woj Bomb told the wide world of basketball that JJ Redick was indeed hired as of Thursday.
https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1803867084096500167
Redick was believed to be a leading candidate all along. Woj's chief rival Shams Charania had a bit of a scoop war with his former
Yahoo! Sports colleague, even going as far to imply that Hurley entertaining the Lakers gig was a leverage play. Hurley denied that, but nevertheless, the Woj vs. Shams scoop-off was an entertaining subplot to the whole LA coaching search.
What makes the news of Redick's hiring even funnier — all jokes aside about his podcast with LeBron James and how that's the only reason he got he job, etc. — was the timely story Carmelo Anthony shared about Team USA basketball.
The late, great Kobe Bryant is arguably the most beloved Laker of all-time. Certainly in the modern era, that's the case. Kobe was a legendary, psychotic competitor in the vein of Michael Jordan. Closest thing we've seen to MJ in terms of play style, brilliance on offense and defense, and so on. Anyway, mere hours before Redick was hired, the latest episode of Melo's own pod premiered, in which he spoke about how the Black Mamba loathed Redick:
https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1803815738806861846
Legendary Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski gave his former Blue Devils star a chance to compete for a roster spot, but Redick didn't make the cut for the USA's gold medal-winning "Redeem Team." Since Kobe was the primary catalyst for that crew, perhaps his feelings toward Redick played a minor part in the decision to not have him on the squad. I doubt it, though. That team was stupid-stacked, and Redick wasn't anywhere near the player he'd become in his prime, having just completed his second NBA season.
While I can't confirm or deny either way based on real-time research, I don't think Kobe's resentment of Redick persisted through the years. In fact, the tragedy of Kobe's death in a helicopter crash was actually what sparked the idea to have a podcast with LeBron in the first place.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msXT9aOzw_s
But yeah, just thought it was such a hilariously-timed drop by Melo, whose JJ-Kobe story is only bound to blow up even more now that Redick is taking the reins for the Purple and Gold.
What a high-pressure situation Redick is stepping into as a first-time NBA head coach. Not that I doubt his basketball acumen, ability to get players to buy in, or his coaching chops despite his inexperience. It's just that the Lakers are at such a crossroads with LeBron entering his 22nd season, minimal cap room/draft capital to improve the roster, and the innate championship expectations that come with being at the helm in LA.
Say what you will about
how cakewalk-y the path was for the Boston Celtics to their latest NBA title, but they now have 18 banners to the Lakers' 17. That's all anyone affiliated with the Lakers is going to care about until they match Boston. Redick will need to somehow get that done in the next two to three years, or else he's likely looking for another job. Not that he has any shortage of options. It's just that, the degree of difficulty couldn't be much greater. Good luck to him. It'll be fascinating as hell to watch regardless.
