Lakers Players Don’t Want JJ Redick Because Of His Smugness

The Los Angeles Lakers are currently heavily exploring two candidates to fill their head coaching vacancy.

For most of the last two weeks, ESPN broadcaster J.J. Redick has widely been viewed as the frontrunner to take over in L.A. Things went so far, in fact, that he began calling around and asking big names raound the league if they would be interested in joining him in an assistant coaching capacity.

Then suddenly, this week, something changed. All of a sudden, UConn head coach Dan Hurley became the frontrunner for the Lakers job.

What changed?

Well, apparently, some Lakers players aren’t huge fans of Redick’s smugness.

“I think a key part of this, based on people that I talk with in the industry, is that at a certain point, a Lakers player or two or three, not named LeBron James, said, you know, ‘I like JJ Redick, but I don’t know if I love this smartest guy in the room,’” insider John Fanta revealed on the “Zach Gelb Show.”

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Fanta didn’t stop there.

“I think that that thing caused Rob Pelinka and Jeanie Buss to reopen the door, and all of a sudden when they started to ask again about Hurley, what was, ah, he’s mildly interested became, he’s interested and he wants to talk,” Fanta continued.

It is worth remembering that Anthony Davis’ preference for who the Lakers head coach should be is a matter of public record. Ditto for team legend and former President of Basketball Operations, Magic Johnson. And it pains a pretty clear picture regarding how Redick is actually viewed in that locker room.

At the moment, it seems like the Lakers job is Hurley’s to lose. And his wife appears to be a the big variable in all this.

Who will the Lakers’ next head coach ultimately end up being? Time will tell.

Related: LeBron James Suddenly Unfollows 3 NBA Stars On Social Media

Carlos Garcia

A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.