The latest Los Angeles Lakers coaching saga may finally be reaching its conclusion.
JJ Redick, the longtime shooting guard that played for six different franchises across his 15-year NBA career, completed an interview with the purple and gold for their head coaching position on Saturday, according to Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times.
The Lakers have appeared to focus their coaching search on Redick after University of Connecticut men’s basketball coach Dan Hurley turned down a six year, $70 million offer to coach the team.
Woike reported that Redick sat down with Lakers brass including general manager Rob Pelinka and owner Jeanie Buss, among others. Star LeBron James, who co-hosts a weekly podcast with Redick, reportedly has not been involved in the coaching search.
James, who will turn 40 during the upcoming season, can opt out of his contract this summer and become a free agent, if he so chooses.
Redick is the third candidate to have formal sit downs with the Lakers. In addition to Hurley, the Lakers have formally interviewed New Orleans Pelicans assistant coach James Borrego, according to Woike.
Borrego served as the head coach of the Charlotte Hornets from 2018-2022. He’s racked up a record of 148-183 as head coach, which includes a stint as the interim coach for the Orlando Magic in 2014-15.
Woike reported that the Lakers have had informal conversations with Boston Celtics assistant Sam Cassell, Denver Nuggets assistant David Adelman and Minnesota Timberwolves assistant Micah Nori.
From the outside, it appears that Redick may be the frontrunner for the position. He has stated publicly that his current focus is on the NBA Finals, which he is on ABC’s commentary team for.
The series could end on Monday as the Celtics carry a 3-1 lead over the Dallas Mavericks.
The Lakers job opened up last month when L.A. fired coach Darvin Ham along with the team’s entire coaching staff. Ham took the team to the playoffs in both years as head coach.