Exclusive: Iman Shumpert isn't buying 'barbershop talk' about Lakers' JJ Redick
10/06/2024 04:42 PM
Iman Shumpert is a fan of the Los Angeles Lakers hiring JJ Redick as head coach. While the move was met with a lot of criticism due to Redick possessing zero coaching experience and because of his close friendship with LeBron James, Shumpert — who matched up against Redick multiple times during his playing career from 2012 through 2021 — explains why it made sense for the Lakers to hire the 39-year-old former NBA shooting guard.
“I think it’s very easy to gain the trust of the team knowing that he’s been through it,” says Shumpert in a one-on-one interview on behalf of his new show, Taking One For The Team, which will debut on ESPN+ and Hulu on Oct. 16. “He runs through a wall, he’s in your face. He doesn’t back down and he gets to work and he does his job. I think knowing all that, the integrity of a coach is so meaningful in the NBA and then he gets an opportunity,
“I know there’s been controversy and everything, I like JJ. There’s certain people that I’m not about to do the whole get into the argument and barbershop talk. I played against the man, I’ve heard the man speak. I’m really excited to see what he does with a basketball club.”
Redick made his name across 15 years in the NBA, mostly serving as a sharp-shooting role player for a number of contending teams, including the Orlando Magic at the start of his career and the Los Angeles Clippers and Philadelphia 76ers towards the end of his playing tenure. Redick once averaged 18.1 points per game during the 2018-19 season and led the NBA with a 47.5% three-point shooting efficiency during the 2015-16 season.
“I think JJ Redick has an incredible basketball mind,” says Shumpert. “I always loved watching his analytics work. Having him as an analyst is great. I think he gives a fair critique. I think he defends the players and protects the players as much as possible. And I think that he speaks the truth. So knowing that and knowing that combined with how he was as a player, people don’t know, but JJ is pretty tough as a player.”
Shumpert describes what it was like matching up against Redick during their playing careers,
“He’s pretty in your face, he’s chippy,” says Shumpert of Redick. “He’s not a regular shooter and he’s just going to be quiet. He’s actually an asshole when he plays ball. But when you know that and you’ve seen somebody’s body of work and then you see how fair they are, how professional they are on that TV, I think it is very easy for somebody to believe that.”
Lakers are rolling the dice on JJ Redick as head coach
The idea of the Lakers hiring a head coach with no prior coaching experience isn’t unheard of. Multiple coaches such as Steve Kerr and Jason Kidd have gone on to have superb careers leading the sidelines of teams, with Kerr winning four championships and Kidd recently leading the Dallas Mavericks to an NBA Finals appearance.
However, there are also duds, such as when the Brooklyn Nets hired Steve Nash. Nash had a respectable 94-67 record, but the team never advanced past the semifinals despite featuring stars such as Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving. Nash was fired at the start of his third season. Meanwhile, Derek Fisher of the New York Knicks also flopped, going 40-96 as coach before being fired in the midst of his second season.
We’ll see how Redick fares in his first season in Los Angeles, but it’s clear it’s the toughest job with the most pressure of any head coaching gig in the NBA.
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