JJ Redick Introduced As Lakers Head Coach; Notes, Clips, Questions That Still Need Answering

Anthony recaps an interesting introductory press conference as Rob Pelinka unveiled JJ Redick as new head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers.

We offer up some notes, some clips, some quotes, and some questions we still have coming off of the presser.

Because this story won’t die, Anthony also shares a couple slips of the tongue that would indicate this had been a done deal well in advance of when Woj and Shams reported it.

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we’re live welcome everybody here to the Lakers Lowdown podcast I’m Anthony Irwin Lakers Insider for Lakers daily today on the show uh JJ reck was officially announced by the Lakers the Lakers emailed me personally to tell to tell me about the news super excited to get that one um had a good idea because of a a back and forth that I had with a buddy of mine um on Twitter maybe I should start replying should I start saying like hey guys how you doing how you holding up all those things um but no JJ reck was um announced by the Lakers officially and then unveiled to the local press uh there via press conference um as one would expect handled it really really well but I thought there would that that this uh pressor gave us some insights into the process even though Rob didn’t want to talk about the process uh it gave us some insight into the timeline which um hopefully is the last time I have to talk about that here today and uh it gave us some insights into the off season and uh the the direction that the Lakers are going to be taking here moving forward so let’s dive on in so JJ reck is an incredible Communicator right this was the first time um in Rob pink tenure as uh you know head basketball decision maker for for the Lakers that he came off as the Lesser communicator on that stage first it was Frank Bogle bogle’s a coach’s coach right and uh you know he he he said all the right things but it wasn’t anywhere near as charismatic as I think um pinka is and was certainly at the time before I kind of got sick of the nonsense um and then uh Darin ham uh you know I thought had a couple good lines here and there but you could tell you know once again Rob palinka was like the more confident person up there on that stage this time however this was the very first time that I would say uh you know Rob between the two people up there on that stage um you know looked I guess not less prepared cuz I thought both guys were prepared but like this was the first time that that he was he was not I think that the more charismatic person up there on that stage the more confident person up there on that stage he had your typical uh pinka type quotes and we’ll get to some of them here in a second but I I thought for the most part reic handled questions better I thought reic and and look reic is you know coming off of a very uh productive career as a uh professional Communicator so this is this is to be expected this is kind of where reic it honestly he lends himself perfectly to this kind of a moment and and I thought he he lived up to that moment quite well in a variety of ways too so we’ll talk about reic um and some of the insights that we can kind of glean from uh some of his quotes but I did want to start with a moment right at the beginning of the uh presser where Rob pinka kind of spells out how pink or how uh reic was always the guy so he starts he he he does the normal like this is a great day for the Lakers and we’re really excited yada y yada um but he says something really interesting here about the approach that the Lakers were taking to this hire or to this process right from the getg go it’s an exciting day when we uh sat out on the journey to name the next Lakers coach we really had in mind uh Concepts around Innovation and challenging oursel to be Forward Thinking uh I think in industry in general and in sports in specific sometimes it’s easy to get caught up in patterns of being in a seam of s a sea of sameness and doing the same thing that everybody else is doing but uh when we embarked on this search it was really important for us to see if we could do something a little bit different do something a little bit different hiring a firsttime coach with zero coaching experience in the NBA to quote to to coach the most win now player in the NBA in LeBron James is certainly different mission accomplished there but like a a note that I want you guys to you know kind of go back to there is is Rob saying that from the onset they wanted to push themselves to be a little different here to do something that was a little bit more forward thinking that than than other teams I think that’s a little too kind of high and mighty there I think that’s kind of patting themselves on the back a little bit and and trying to kind of convince themselves of a hire but one thing that I took from that is like I’ve reported from the get-go the Lakers headed into this process according to the people that I spoke to close to the Lakers um hoping to be wowed by JJ reick and obviously you saw reck in the setting you knew that he was going to wow them so when you know wge was doing the whole Hurley thing and trying to convince everybody that it was always Hurley and that there was nobody else at his level in this search it was always like it just was nobody believed it nobody that I spoke to around the league believed WJ when he was trying to do that why he did that I have no idea I have no earthly idea um I think the the most kind of pervasive response that I’ve have gotten when I’ve asked why he did that was that he was trying to stick at the Shams and make Shams look worse by reporting uh the way he had that reic was kind of the focus of the search which by the way as Rob out L here he was and as people told me throughout this process reic was the focus he was the person who spent the most time at the top of the list maybe for a brief little bit you know during that 4-day period that resulted in Dan hurly getting a contract offer maybe you could make you I no I think there’s a real argument to be made that Hurley was the guy at the top of the list but apart from that that 4-day stretch I would say that over the six- week period reic spent the most time o at at the top of that list sure maybe bgo kind of figured into it at one point Rob pinka said that uh Anthony Davis was very involved in the search it would that would kind of explain why bgo was always a name that kind of hung around the top of the list here for the Lakers that was probably somebody that ad kind of preferred over the the field um but I I I think when it when it comes down to it and as Rob kind of explains there the Lakers fell in love with the idea of hiring a communicator first and for foremost that they could kind of mold into a great coach now reic has to have some own some of his own character traits that would indicate that he would be good at this Beyond being a good communicator communicating is only one it’s a very important step along the path of becoming a good head coach but it’s not the only one that you have to take and um you know reic is has has according to the people that that I’ve spoken to who are kind of close to him um reic is like his attention to detail is second to none and he has no problem saying the thing that needs to be said even if it might ruffle some feathers so when the Lakers said that they were really looking for somebody who would hold people accountable reic was is that kind of a guy as we’ll talk about here a little bit later where where reic just starts dropping F bombs um if reic thinks that something needs to be said uh maybe he’ll find a political way of saying it so he doesn’t like fully piss people off but he understands that occasionally feathers need to be ruffled in order to get the the correct response across and and I think that was part of what the Lakers were kind of looking for here but that was a moment from the very onset of this press conference that really kind of you know hammered home the stuff that I have been reporting and others have been been reporting that JJ reic has been kind of or had been the focus of this search right from the get-go maybe they went away from it a little bit according to Rob he’s going to talk about the process at some unknown date U maybe he’ll do that on a podcast or something like that but uh I I I tend to think and I have thought throughout this whole thing that reic was the guy and the reasons on that may have varied like I thought early on that reick would have been hired because if it didn’t work out you could kind of just kind of pin that on LeBron but when LeBron kind of distance himself and Rich Paul distan LeBron from the search that option kind of went away and I thought it was really interesting that around that time the noise surrounding reic kind of changed and kind of shifted a little bit so I uh you know hearing that from Robo hammered that home and um the next thing that he said here or the next kind of couple things that he said here that really caught my attention had to do with what the Lakers might be looking to do this offseason and in offseasons moving forward all right so I’m going to play uh a clip here from uh I think it was like moments later but this is Rob pinka um kind of talking about the way that the Lakers are going to be looking to build moving forward for people in the room that study this new cap system that we’re now under in the NBA there’s there’s a hard system with you know first and second apron and I could get into all the details but at the core of that is going to be the importance of a great franchise like the Lakers modernizing and leaning into de leaning into development uh was the next step there I don’t know why streamyard does this thing where they they end videos like a second early but anyway he the last word that he says there is development leading into development the Lakers aren’t a particularly young team they do have Austin Reeves who’s like youngish they have Max Christie who is youngish also you have uh let’s see you have um Jaylen Hino is Young and then they’ll obviously draft some players here in this this upcoming draft as well and look to develop those guys um but the notion of development and the focus on development and and and the reason behind it according to Rob pinka um has to do with the current CBA the thing is though this current CBA was in play last year and when the Lakers decided at the deadline to not use any of their draft capital and the excuse that they used at the time was that they were keeping their power pow dry to be able to move all three picks if need be um this upcoming offseason to improve the team this kind of sentiment bumped me a little bit um we we go back to uh to to pinka a little bit later in this um in in the presser where he kind of expands on why it’s important for the Lakers to uh draft well and really invest into the development of the young guys in this organization our goal is to build a team that compete for championships you know whether that’s in the short term or the long term we always have to balance those two things um and I do think in this system as I I opened um some of the trades are more difficult especially if you have a second apron team and a first apron team there’s a chance we’ll be in the first apron the the trades are less prevalent than they used to be so will we look for trades that help us become a better team absolutely um are those trades um do they have the same probability that they did under the old system no it is a different system so we’ve got to be mindful and thoughtful around that and I do think um as I stated at the beginning part of the road to a really really good team and you can look around the landscape of the league right now with um many young teams doing really really well is going to be lean hard into that Player Development piece and of course part of that is is drafting the right way we’ve had a great track record here of drafting good players and developing them um and we’re going to continue on that path as well um so that’s not a yes or a no if the perfect trade comes along and we can use picks to make it and win a championship yeah we’ll do it is that trade going to be there I don’t know it’s harder in this system to find perfect trades it’s harder in this system to find perfect trades Circle put a couple Stars around it underline it highlight it perfect trades is the phrase that really kind of sent me there you can’t only make trades if they are perfect you can’t sometimes you have to make a compromise for the slight step forward that is needed for your team to continue to compete um when he’s talking about how he’s willing to make a trade a perfect trade if it or he’s willing to uh move picks in a perfect trade if it makes them or if it if it if it wins them a championship it t it not like one move doesn’t do that for you you have to make multiple moves over time that you know take you know uh I guess first build momentum and carry that momentum forward so that over the years your roster keeps getting better and better and better and better and by the time you are finally you know op operating at at an optimal level you have you know utilized all of the assets necessary to go out and com compete for a championship you look at like you look at the teams that played well in this uh postseason yeah they made big swing moves somewhere along the way Minnesota traded for Rudy gobear um uh Boston right trades for kristaps porzingis and they trade for Derek white and and and those things but like Boston drafted Jason Tatum they drafted Jaylen uh Brown they uh developed guys like pton Pritchard and and they developed guys you know they stuck with an Al Horford even as he gets to the advanced stage that he is um you could look at at at Dallas right how uh they drafted Luca donic and got to a championship series right or either Championship or a western conference is Championship I don’t know um but they they they’ve they’ve had postseason success and they can and like they they screwed it up somewhere along the way but they believed in Luca and they believed that if they just surrounded him with an even okay team he would take them to the the levels that they expect themselves to reside at while you employ a Luca donic and um you know when I listen to Rob pinka talk about and and and look by the way look a lot of lying was done on that stage I am going to believe the stuff that aligns with the reality that I that I understand um the the the the set of facts that I have in front of me if somebody says stuff that aligns with th those set of facts I’ll okay I’ll roll with that um and so maybe when he’s talking about how um you know the Lakers have to have an eye on development and they have to have an eye towards the future and how the CBA Forces teams to really uh build in the draft and develop the guys that they draft um you know part of that could be sending a message to the rest of the league that no I’m we’re not just going to trade picks for the sake of trading picks especially considering Alex Caruso was just got for the high high nope sorry low low you know sub6 type price of of Josh Giddy and and I I’m looking at I’m looking at this and and like I I I think it’s possible that some of this has spin to send a message to the rest of the league that while the Lakers were open for business they aren’t going to just hand on you know you know hand out draft picks if they don’t need to but um I I also think though that that last line there at the very end of it the perfect trade and the notion of only making a trade if it wins them a championship multiple trades are required to win championships multiple correct decisions are are are made over the course of a time that a team gets put together to win a championship um and and you know this moment here like this is why I say that I I was more impressed by JJ reck and part of this is that my patience with pinka has run thin um if not out um but I I I I thought that like this kind of moment and and that whole like Tech bro response that he had um in talking about the way that the Lakers are looking to develop and and gaming or or gamifying the the the the development process and all those things like it’s just like just just shut up like let let let’s just like hear from JJ I’m kind of done hearing from you um unless you’re willing to actually offer up some some some transparency on the process here or on what you’re looking to do like I I’m good I’m good just let me hear from JJ and and I you know on that note let’s go ahead and segue over to some of JJ’s um better or more interesting moments the first moment that honestly I’m going to play now um that I think really gives you a look into how JJ reck operates um was his response to any kind of uh narratives that are out there that he thinks are wrong um or any of the noise that he has heard over the last like six weeks or so um his answer here was I thought telling um I thought like you know obviously a little rough on the edges given some of the language here but I obviously you guys listen to me on the regular you know I’m not all that concerned about four-letter words but I thought this gives you a real insight into kind of why I think he might wind up being pretty good at this um it’s a valid question and I’ve certainly heard everything um you know it’s it’s been a really interesting uh six weeks or so um just in terms of uh you know being part of the engagement farming uh industry you know it’s been really interesting um however I I I don’t really have a great answer for your uh question because I I really don’t give a like honestly I want to coach the Lakers I want to coach the team I don’t want to dispel anything I don’t I want to become a great coach in the NBA and I want to win championships and I want my players to maximize their careers that’s all I care about hey coach Timothy Parker Spectrum I I let it play out there at the very end because I just love Rob’s face where he’s just like almost like swooning um it that moment like I know that I kind of mocked the notion of of um you know comparing reick to Kobe there but that was a very Kobe moment like late stage Kobe I don’t like I have something to say I’m going to say it I don’t need to polish this anymore I’ve been doing this for two decades I’m confident in what I what what I present and what I offer here’s me just talking about why I don’t care what these people think about me even though generally speaking all of these people really care about what people say about them but um I I I I thought that there was a really good moment there I thought that was a really telling moment and why I say that it it gave me a little bit more faith in reic you know handling this opportunity well is there are going to be times when he and a player disagree or he and somebody in the front office uh disagree hopefully it’s not Genie or or Linda because normally that means that those people the people who disagree with those guys tend to or those those girls tend to see the door eventually but um yeah I I would say that like that moment you know kind of you know I I’ve been saying throughout this process the thing that I’ve been kind of excited about with JJ compared to Frank and even compared to Darin is that those guys their like first instinct is to kind of back off and plate and and I think with unless they’re like really up against the wall I think there at the end Darin was was pretty fed up with the the media and was just letting it fly but um in that moment JJ just basically saying like yeah people are saying Stephen A Smith has spent like the last month on JJ reic I’m sure he saw that I sure he I’m I’m sure he heard that and didn’t love it right that’s somebody that you know welcome welcomed him onto his show that is a teammate at ESPN that is you know one of the louder voices literally louder voices and louder Platforms in the uh in in in NBA coverage and and Stephen A Smith has taken every opportunity to say why this is actually a bad thing that JJ reck would get this opportunity um but I I you know in that moment where he was like you know I I’ve heard all of that stuff and I could dispel it but I I you know one the best way to dispel it is to do the work right that’s where he talks about wanting to be a great coach and wanting to succeed here with the Lakers and all of those things but also on top of that I want those people to know I don’t need to dispel those things because I don’t give a about them and like you know what I respect that hell I wish I had more of that my my Twitter life would be better um if I just you know looked the other way when people were calling me a fraud I should be a at this point having nailed this story the way that I did and and frankly this is how I’m going to do this moving forward I have no time for that stuff I know I have the information right I’m going to move forward as such and and I think here with reic I think that’s basically what he’s doing that but in coaching version where he’s like yeah I know that they have things to say I know they have thoughts on my lack of experience he joked about his lack of experience right from the GetGo in this press conference but I don’t care I’m here to do job and my focus is doing that job well I’m probably going to be clipping um the I don’t give ably like that’s that’s probably that’s that’s that’s going to be in my video bank here and in shorter form um another moment that I thought uh was was uh really kind of interesting here this is a longer uh clip but he was asked about how he wants to utilize Anthony Davis and how he wants to utilize LeBron James and I think this once again you know even while he is uh here out here telling people he doesn’t give a bleep what they think about him or all of those things um he still understands that this is a very collaborative position and explained how he’s looking to do that with Anthony Davis any player on the roster uh I can have a vision for how I want to use them but they has to be buying in collaboration right so I can sit up here and tell you how I would like for them to play but if there’s no buyin then it doesn’t really matter um so I think part of the next two months uh and I know those guys are going to be busy with uh Team USA part of the next two months is is just having conversations and Anthony and I already had a conversation a week ago uh some ideas both offensively and defensiv say uh I think both of us felt really comfortable uh going forward with that sort of as the as the base uh starting point of of how he’s going to play on this on this team and you know one of the things I brought up with him is just um the idea of him as a hub um there’s a bunch of guys at the five position in the NBA that that sort of operate in that way and uh I don’t know that he’s been used in that way uh and sort of maximize all of his abilities um so that’s that’s a simple thing with him with LeBron look you have to certainly uh get by in and talk to him about how he wants to play um you know him and I have joked about this but like he shot over 40% from three this year like I I want him shooting threes he’s going to have his three or four bursts every game where he gets out in transition and does things that no one at his age should ever be able to do but he he does it um it’s it’s really just figuring out in the half court uh putting him in different spots both as a scorer and a facilitator uh that’ll be part of the conversation over the next next couple months yeah it’s it’s all a conversation it’s all it’s a process right it’s um now this is where I’ll be really curious um and this is where I think I’m most excited about this hire in that look I I like Frank Frank vogle I thought he was a good coach I thought he got a raw deal as Rob gave him a shitty roster and then fired him for not being able to make a shitty roster work um I like Darin like as best I can as a person uh you hear nothing but good things about Darin as a person as a coach not so much but as a person um uh neither of those guys were LeBron’s preferred hire at the time that they were hired Frank vogle was the fourth choice of the Lakers by the time he was hired but LeBron preferred tyo I think he was pretty agnostic about uh uh Monty Williams but I think he probably would have preferred Jason Kidd over uh Frank vogle and uh with Frank you know you get the immediate Buy in from you know Stars with a brand new coach and that produced a championship but I thought that LeBron’s interest in Frank’s message waned very quickly because Frank wasn’t the guy that LeBron wanted in the first place and then with Darvin ham I think uh you know LeBron preferred Phil handy and we’ll see if handy comes back to the Lakers here all of this talk about development and stuff like that um makes me think that Phil is probably going to be getting a call here soon because they’re just isn’t anybody better than Phil in the sport at developing at least the individual skills for uh young players so I would imagine Phil gets a call here soon again that was a strong suit from from my Simon who coached in the g- league and and obviously maintain that relationship across two different coaching staffs uh if development is the focus there I think Miles Simon makes a lot of sense and I know that there is mutual interest there but um but like in in in that in this moment and and moving forward here with this team I’m really really curious to see what it’s going to look like for LeBron to respond to the coach that he preferred Rob said that LeBron was very supportive but not involved and um and and in this search but it’s also the guy that LeBron would have preferred like it’s I I I’ve been told that that reck is the guy that LeBron preferred in this in this coaching search um now if Lou was available I think we having a different discussion here but Lou was never realistically um available and uh I I you know this whole notion that JJ and LeBron never spoke until JJ either accepted or was offered the gig don’t quite buy that you know LeBron was texting Dan Hurley apparently uh somehow I I think he probably sent a couple messages JJ’s way as well but I I I’m really really curious to see what it’s going to look like this season um and and and like what LeBron is going to be willing to do for a coach that he believes in more right off the bat than his previous two Lakers head coaches and uh you know like look we always talk about this culture is set from and you know from the top and then it kind of trickles down and if the Superstar or the loudest Voice or the most important voice in that locker room if you get the sense ever that he isn’t 100% in on a head coach chances are his teammates are going to sense that as well and they also are going to kind of Wayne in terms of interest in that coach’s message this time around though with LeBron being 100% on board with reck as the head coach and with LeBron preferring reic I I do tend to think that this will help set a more productive culture than the Lakers have had over the last few years um that isn’t to say that that the Lakers didn’t enjoy success despite not having the best culture per se but it you know these things matter like if they didn’t matter Miami wouldn’t outperform expectations all the time if they didn’t matter you know Boston sticking with the 2js wouldn’t have paid its dividends in this last year if culture didn’t matter like honestly Sports would be way less interesting to talk about or to watch because culture is this intangible undefinable thing that you can’t track with numbers you can’t it’s it’s why it’s why these teams that are too analytically um inclined tend to ignore it and and wind up suffering as a result of it the the clippers for years um now have ignored the notion of culture and ignored the notion of human beings working together with a common goal in mind they ignore that and eventually they run up against the same ceiling for a long time Danny a ignored that in Boston and I don’t think it’s a coincidence once Danny a was no longer in Boston that’s when the Celtics went out and won a championship with that core that that that Danny a kind of started I think um you know reic and understanding how collaborative this is going to be and LeBron buying into reic right away that’s that’s really exciting man it really really is and at the end at the end of the day like it’s just you know it’s it’s why reck was brought in in the first place and why he was considered for a job that frankly he isn’t qualified for like he just isn’t you know in terms of typical qualifications he isn’t qualified for it but even in that regard he is somehow almost more qualified for this position in this one specific way than his two predecessors in this position it’s a super fascinating subject one that by the way on tomorrow’s show um Mir and fader and I are going to talk about how qualified reic is and and and the process that went into hiring him and whether um there are some questions that need answering on on this front but you know for right now as it pertains to LeBron and as it pertains to Anthony Davis this is really exciting I I I’m I’m really excited about this specific thing now in terms of uh clips and stuff like that clips and quotes uh I you know that was all that I found you know noteworthy enough to to throw onto the show here and by the way all of those clips come by way of uh youtube.com Lakers um you know they they they streamed it online and then uh I was able to grab the video from from them um on there but um the other thing that I wanted to talk about here are some of the names that were mentioned or not mentioned at various points obviously you heard reic talk about the way that he’s looking forward to working with LeBron James and Anthony Davis that kind of goes without saying he also said reic did that he has spoken to Austin Reeves recently about the role that he is going to be playing um ruy haimura was asked specifically about by I believe a member of the Japanese media um and so it’s kind of a cheat code here but uh reick did have a an answer in mind for what he is hoping for or expecting from uh ruy this upcoming year he wants him to shoot more threes and become a better offensive rebounder couple of names that didn’t get mentioned here um and then like other guys right I think like Max Christie was was named as a member of the young core I think J Jaylen hfin was also mentioned um as as a member of that young core as well Colin Castleton I believe also but uh guys who weren’t mentioned were Jared Vanderbilt and most interestingly D’Angelo Russell we know what that situation is I said on the show yesterday that the Lakers are basically operating as if D was going to opt out but wouldn’t necessarily be surprised if he op it in because of the way that this Market is coming together um I had that confirmed today by another few sources that that is the case here that the Lakers are are basically again um you know that that they they anticipate or they are um you know operating as if DLo was going to opt out because that is something that you then need to act on but if DLo were to opt in it wouldn’t necessarily completely surprise them because this Market has been really wonky that said if DLo opts in he immediately is on the trade block I think it’s pretty clear here that the Lakers understand they need to split up Reeves and Russell whether that’s moving Russell all together and and and bringing in a a guard who better um builds up you know or or or uh compounds on Reeves’s strengths uh DLo doesn’t do that necessarily um or or or whatever it is that the Lakers choose like maybe they they choose to move DLo to the bench and start Reeves next year whatever that decision might be um I did find it interesting and noteworthy that DLo wasn’t mentioned at any point while the Lakers were were or while JJ reck and while Rob Pinko were talking about either the path forward from a schematic or cultural standpoint here in the organization or talking about their options on the trade market or free agency and all of those things um some of that might I guess if you want to get super duper technical have to do with the fact that DLo has that player option and they wanted to uh you know stay away from that um subject because of of you know the the the process there but that said like you know Rob did mention LeBron by name despite LeBron also having a player option I just found it really really interesting and then with v also like it’s tough you can’t have two Wings basically that expect starters minutes but only basically add up to a two-way player um now reic has talked in the past on his podcasts and and various platforms about how you can utilize a player who um doesn’t shoot the ball as well depending on the amount of shooting around them but uh you know with Vando it’s tough to have ruy who is an offensive-minded player whose defense kind of waines and stuff like that but can if he is scoring have an impact on that side of the floor Vando however is kind of tricky because he is a great great great defensive player and he’s somebody who does those little things that help teams win basketball games but it’s not even like ruie where ru’s defense kind of comes and goes v is never in offenseive threat at various points last year it looked like V was afraid to shoot the ball no matter how close he was to the basket and that is a very difficult player to a have in your rotation at all and B make work in the postseason because those players get played off the court always just like we saw very Jared Vanderbilt get played off of the Court the last time we saw him in the postseason hell he was healthy and he still got a DMP CD in last year’s postseason so yeah I I I don’t I don’t think that they like omitted those guys names because uh you know like to to to send a message and say that those guys are definitely not going to be back but I also think it’s noteworthy in that like you just you just never know on some of these things and when you’re in that kind of a moment and you have various talking points in mind it becomes very telling what those talking points are or who isn’t involved in those talking points and in this case D’Angelo Russell I’m not going to go so far as to say that the Lakers you know based off of the stuff that I’ve heard about D I’m not going to go so far as to say that the Lakers think that they are just flat out better off without D’Angelo Russell because it’s just not true but DLo does have a a personality that can wear thin on you and also he always disappears in the postseason it’s just true and and from the Lakers perspective if winning a championship is theot Focus you almost can’t have D’Angelo Russell playing a starting role on your team because eventually he’s going to disappear in the postseason and you can’t have a 16 or 17 or $18 million player just not do anything for you as consistently as D’Angelo Russell doesn’t do things for you in the postseason and I think that is something that the Lakers are very aware of heading into this off season or if they bring him back next year it’s something that they’ll be very aware of you know that they’ll they’ll probably need to address at some point next year um and then with v same same kind of thing you know it’s just a a very very it’s the inverse version of it where you know I think I I I think uh V is probably a little bit more popular in in the organization and in that locker room but uh but still you have to acknowledge the guy’s shortcomings as a player player and the impact that that that those uh shortcomings will have eventually if the if the goal is to win a championship and maybe you can surround him with enough shooting that it doesn’t hurt you as much but eventually if a defense can ignore a player it is going to gum up an offense and in order to be you know productive enough or impactful enough to make up for that you have to be damn near the greatest defense player in the history of the sport and I’m sorry Jared Vanderbilt is not that so uh I I found it really interesting how they uh you know how those guys names didn’t come up and it’ll be really kind of interesting to see uh how this offseason plays out for both all right we have wow this is a very very uh active audience here tonight so I’m going to go ahead and play this bad [Music] boy all right so I’m gonna start at the top here Matthew writes um Anthony thoughts on the F bombs by JJ at the intro press conference I’m all in I’m with you Matthew I really am I I loved it you know what I loved it so much I’m gonna play it again because I I need to cough uh where is it here we go um it’s a valid question and I’ve certainly heard everything um you know it’s it’s been a really interesting uh six weeks or so um just in terms of uh you know being part of the engagement farming uh industry you know it’s been really interesting um however I I I don’t really have a great answer for your uh question because I I really don’t give a like honestly I want to coach the Lakers I want to coach the team I don’t want to dispel anything I don’t I want to become a great coach in the NBA and I want to win championships and I want my players to maximize their careers that’s all I care about hey coach Timothy Parker Spectrum man I love it I love it I I love a coach with a little bit of fire to him like it or or at the very least so a topic in the household lately is that I am a Scorpio and how um like I guess one I’m not really an astrologist or anything like that um but I do find some of it kind of interesting I I like those kind of weird theoretical you know universes that people live in um but Jen always likes to point out that I’m a Scorpio because um I have kind of a biting person ality that if I feel cornered I am going to say something that gets people off of me it gets me in trouble on Twitter it’s hell it’s gotten me in trouble over the course of My Life um but but it I I guess it’s just part of being me um I I think that your coach needs to be capable of that I think your coach needs to you know in in the right kind of moment in the right kind of setting remove that filter and say hey dude what the and just let it rip because sometimes that’s all that needs to be said sometime right like like um if if LeBron has given up five straight three-pointers to the guy that he’s guarding I would hope that when he gets back to the to the Huddle reic kind of goes like hey dude like we need you to at least care maybe maybe like get a hand up for number six let’s try that right and and no matter what the how he needs to convey that message that message needs to be conveyed and you need to be able to hold that guy accountable and and I just don’t know how consistently a coach can convey that message if they aren’t willing to ruffle a few feathers and and that moment was just I I I love that Mo moment I’m glad other people are enjoying it too um Leia seor writes hearing JJ talk about how he plans to get more offensive rebounds and how he wants to create more open threes really makes me feel at peace compared to the last guy uh yeah absolutely uh you know these these um I’m I’m a math guy I entered College very immature and the the point you know the goal was to exit College as a civil engineering man major I just skipped too many classes and I wasn’t able to get it done but I uh but I I’ve always just kind of seen the world in a very mathematic practical fashion um I my dad’s son now when I think about basketball it’s very very simple to me if you are not going to be a great three-point shooting team you need to make up for that statistic disadvantage by you know finding an advantage elsewhere so when reic is saying that he wants more offensive rebounds I.E possessions and he wants to create more open three-pointers those are two very very important advantages to to to to build on over the course of a game and so hearing him talk about those things um and and and and hopefully eventually kind of specify how he wants to do those things or or arrive at more possessions or more open three-pointers um that come within the flow and all those things uh and that players can predict that they’re going to be able to shoot that’s a very important element here like those are those are things that like I was hearing I’m like yes all right those are at least you know like like those are at least paying you know verbal dividends to how important those things are cuz they are they’re very important and if you aren’t even willing to acknowledge them in a setting like this chances are you’re not going to care enough about them when the time comes to care about them and in this case he did and I was happy to see it uh Jabari Macintosh asks how do I become a member it there should be underneath this uh video here there should be a button um there as far as uh subscribing and or um becoming a VIP um and and uh at the very least uh Jabari um give me your at on Twitter and I’ll walk you through the process but but those are uh those are things that I’m I’m I’m always happy to help people figure out um Ry guy writes Murray and DFS plus keep Reeves in 17 then Rob wins the summer so Murray is going to be tough I know that the Lakers are interested again but um Murray is going to be tough for all of the same reasons that it was difficult to bring him out to La at the deadline um DFS I do think his price has dropped um especially after the Alex Caruso trade and I think some of these sellers are kind of scrambling now that there are more Sellers and uh you know that like there are there are at least commensurate sellers to buyers that ratio isn’t so far out of whack at this point so I think that’ll help um and then you know if uh if you’re able to keep that number 17 pick um th this this draft is really difficult to pinpoint on the direction that anybody is going to go in because I don’t think anybody really knows who is going to be available when but I do get the sense that the Lakers are really looking to draft a big at 17 that they think can either spell Anthony Davis or ideally play alongside Anthony Davis and um donon Holmes uh really kind of comes to mind for me there uh Jabari Macintosh again hey Anthony love the show uh how well would the Lakers develop chrisy JHS and Maxwell Lewis what are their roles this year will they develop their two picks this year that’s the goal you know um you know they’ve at least paid it lip service to this point Christie like this is what’s funny I wish like this is I think there’s a real case to be made that Christie should start this year next to to Austin like unless the Lakers find a clear-cut like obvious upgrade at the two I would rather start Christie and bring D’Angelo Russell off of the bench then Trot out Austin and DLo again CU we know what the ceiling on Austin and DOW is I I Christie needs to find minutes that’s what was so maddening watching Darin ham the Lakers didn’t win enough to be able to say that they they didn’t need to change things up and they also uh didn’t develop the guys that you needed to develop if you weren’t going to do enough winning and you know that’s why Darin ham is is currently an assistant coach in Milwaukee uh but but like Christie to me like I I I’m going to do it again this year I’m G to walk around Vegas and I’m going to you know speak to High Heavens about um how I believe in Christie and and um be called a crazy person again now Maxwell Lewis is a little tougher I can see the physical tools there but I I don’t know um the Lakers are already pretty deep at wing and I would I would anticipate an upgrade on the wing that makes it kind of difficult for Lewis to find minutes and then you know if the Lakers are going to draft Brony which I’m told that they are um you know trying to find a way to do it without completely throwing a wrench in their offseason plans I.E like I don’t think the Lakers want to take him at 17 but um you know if they draft Brony I don’t see the point in having Brony and JHS together on this team uh they’re very similar players and you know if you have both of them one of them just isn’t going to play ever so I would probably say that you know it’s kind of tough because with JHS You’re basically trading a near lottery pick from just last year as nothing more than like salary basically because of how bad a season he had as a rookie um but you know if you’re GNA draft Brony I just don’t see the point in having JHS so I I you know as Rob said they are going to be and and Dan Wii has reported this I was able to confirm it that the Lakers are really going to be looking to invest across their organization how they’re willing to do that like I have reported that they were going to do that in the past and I didn’t really see it come to fruition in the way that I was hoping we’ll see what that actually looks like and hopefully they’ll actually announce those hires so that we can track them over the course of the offseason but yeah the point apparently here with the with the way that the Lakers are operating in this new season uba is to draft and develop players which also makes you cheaper but like it it it you know if it is a priority it’s it’s you know the right priority to to to kind of focus on uh Matthew uh Anthony you always talk about the Lakers not being transparent about their process don’t you think doing that gives away leverage in their plans no because like there is no there is no like magic trick here everybody who hires a good head coach goes about doing it the same way yeah they they Identify some favorites early on in the process but they bring in droves and droves and droves of candidates to talk to them and learn about what makes that candidate special or what what they need to learn about themselves to make whoever they hire work um like that process if the Lakers were to like talk about that process everybody else around the league would be like oh finally they’re doing it the right way this this year’s process like I’m sorry it it feels kind of lacking they started this process liking reic they liked reic they lik reic they lik reic at some point I think that there was a a a handshake deal in place just waiting for the finals and then the hurly thing happened and that was the only time that they really kind of stepped away from reck as the guy and then they wound up with reic and there’s just like no like where where’s like sure yeah you talk to bgo you never they never took Bargo seriously I I really don’t think so I think it it just it just doesn’t appear that way um yeah yeah like I think maybe they interviewed Sam Cassell and maybe they inter I think they they did interview Kenny ainson but like when I covered the Dodgers when they were hiring Dave Roberts it was name after name after name after name and what kind of interview they were in for and what they were looking for and what they learned and all of those things like that information was right there for me to very easily um learn from and when they finally AR arrived at they Roberts I had confidence at the very least in the process process that got them there um I personally liked what was his name Gabe kapler um he was he was another like kind of high up candidate for that position but we’ve seen how those two guys’ coaching careers have gone Roberts was significantly better and has been significantly better at this than kapler has been or would have been and and you know the Dodgers could have been you know felt confident going into their relationship with Roberts knowing that they did all of the work necessary to arrive at the right guy and at no point in any of these searches do have I ever felt like all right this process is going well like nobody could have like you know and and if they’re if you’re concerned about giving things away like sorry the Lakers aren’t so far out in front of everybody else that they are going to be giving away secrets to frankly smarter organizations Better Run organizations and like that transparency it only serves like if the Lakers had hired JJ reick and they had kind of walked us through this process more thoroughly Lakers fans would have a lot fewer questions about JJ rect the potential head coach than they currently have that’s the whole effing Point behind public relations Is to give out strategic give out information that you know lets your audience feel better about whatever it is that you’re doing it’s a whole damn point I don’t know why the Lakers are so bad at this still partially because they don’t pay their PR people enough but partially because like they they’re so insulated that they’re just always going to Pat themselves on the back for what they convince themselves is the right thing to do with the time and and that process has lacked here again and look that isn’t to say that you could have bad process and good results it happens all the time look at my entire effing career somehow my dumbass has made a you know a living doing this drunkenly stum you know stumbling throughout my career um you know somehow I arrived here so like process isn’t always like there isn’t always a direct correlation between process and immediate results what I will say though is that poor process does eventually predict poor results eventually good process eventually is a good predictor of good results eventually how far down the line how all like that’s that obvious obviously is is the zillion dollar question how do you arrive at those good good results um as quickly as you possibly can but when you have good process you are typically going to R arrive eventually at good results and I just you know there’s a reason that the Lakers are on their third head coach in whatever it is five or six no seven years under uh under Rob pinka Ry guy asks uh dwy moving like he’s not a free agent and back uh LOL I I haven’t honestly I haven’t paid enough attention to um you know various players social medias and what they’re saying about the experience of being a Laker and all those things I think I would welcome D Wy back I’d be fine with it if he was on a minimum um I think Paul makes a little bit more sense just from the standpoint of having that kind of assistant coach out there on the court to help JJ reick learn on the Fly um like I saw people saying that like well what if Rondo and Chris Paul don’t get along well then don’t bring Rondo in like he’s just an assistant coach I I’m not Des I’m not so desperate to hire Rajan Rondo that I’m not bringing in an actual player who’s going to impact the game on the court like that’s just that’s just not how this is going to play out but um I’d be fine with Denny Den witty uh I you you only bring in Den witty if you probably move Russell or if you move Gabe Vincent but I’d be all right with them uh B Benjamin G writes I’m worried uh pinka laid the groundwork for running it back without actually saying those words he definitely did like there was there was you know a message there that you know trades are tough everybody I’m just saying those trades are tough this new CBA really means that you got to develop in the draft and bring in cheap young Talent um all of those things like you know okay all right yeah then why didn’t you trade anybody at the deadline like why why didn’t you trade for anybody at thead line before the CBA became as punitive as it is right now like why didn’t you take that Advantage then like that again I don’t know I I use caralis and stuff I guess uh Justin Tindle writes apologies if you already covered it but uh yes to Murray for me hell no on Grant a third score giving up substantial absence who’s assets who’s not a Defender well Grant did defend in Denver like um essentially Grant was like a hyper aete at OKC that uh Denver brought in basically to do the things that Aaron Gordon has dedicated himself to doing uh since Grant left and um and like those those the talent is there to do those things the is he hasn’t cared about those things in multiple years and I think maybe he’s gotten a little too used to being able to operate with the balls ball in his hand um and I think that could has led to some kind of unfortunate habits but um I the problem with Grant is he’s crazy expensive that that extension makes zero sense whatsoever and I don’t think the Lakers want to be tied up in that you know Jerry and Grant or Jeremy Grant for for that much money uh K will writes no Mitchell extension yet any chance he doesn’t sign you know I’m I’m going to be honest uh whatever is going on in Cleveland right now is is really kind of throwing me you know that they went from bgo According to anybody you were talking to around the league bgo was the guy he was the guy he was the guy it’s just a matter of when um and then apparently Dan Gilbert got involved and told them to hire Kenny Atkinson um so that that process was a little weird and once the owner gets involved and makes decisions unilaterally it becomes basically impossible to predict what that team is going to do because the only person at that point who knows what they’re going to do is the owner and the owner doesn’t have to talk to anybody um it’s it’s actually technically kind of difficult to get in touch with the owner to figure out what they’re thinking about doing so I would still say that you know Shams I saw reported that things were moving towards um Donovan Mitchell signing a four-year I think it was like $29 million contract uh extension in Cleveland if that’s on the table Donovan probably takes it and uh and I I don’t think he’ll be available but look I thought bgo wasn’t going to be available and and uh I thought bgo was going to be the coach in Cleveland and it turns out he is not all right last question here um Justin Tindle writes shocked at not one Darvin question here’s where I got to give credit to to Rob pinka because he basically said right at the onset of the of the of the uh I almost called it a podcast uh at right at the onset of the press conference he basically said like the focus of today is JJ reck and I think everybody else there took that to mean he isn’t going to be answering questions about Darin ham either and you know maybe that was like uh that was him kind of learning from his prior lessons he answered questions about darham at or or or you know situations extending beyond the head coach at the last two head coach press conferences and uh it led to kind of a mess and uh to Rob’s credit he sidestep that question and the beat reporters decided not to pursue it further now normally at these press conferences you’ll have availability off to the side and certainly you’ll have opportunities for one-on-ones as well and so maybe you know some one or a few of those beat reporters got quotes directly from from Rob on the process there that weren’t in the press conference kind of situation um that’s something to keep an eye out for from you know those platforms whether it’s the times or the athletic or ESPN um but I uh yeah I I was also kind of surprised um but also like you know I I I honestly don’t even need to hear that stuff from Rob at this point it’s all going to be used Carl salesman car salesman not Carl salesman but but it it’s all going to be kind of snake oil salesman kind of like talking points and stuff and I don’t know like I I’ve I’ve listen to this guy talk for long enough that I’m just kind of sick of it like I just I’m done just be normal like like just you know he was here I’m gonna read this quote if I can find it um he was asked about like uh the notion of of yeah here we go so he was asked about like to the analytics department and adding to like the organization at large uh pinka uh that’s a great question Dylan that’s a that’s a go-to move there for for Rob pinka to like make a report oh man great question Dylan and I know your name um and I think you’ve hit on a really important theme JJ and I have had some really robust conversations around Innovation and sort of gamifying Player Development if you think about a 20-year-old basketball player today and maybe a 20-year-old basketball player I don’t know 10 15 20 years ago the modium of uh learning are completely different I mean we all probably some of us have kids we have nephews nieces kids and athletes are learning um in new and innovative ways so we’ve talked about how do we translate coach reck’s offensive system to app-based or phone-based deliverable where players can be buying into a philosophy and learning it in a way that meets today’s Young player and and I think innovation has got to be at the core of that we have a vision for to your point of hiring out this support staff and sort of tech Bullpen a way of innovating Minds to help bring basketball strategy and bring his basketball philosophy to life in a way that our players can grasp it I my eyes are glazing over while I’m saying all this learn it and grow their basketball IQ I think there’s no one in the room that would argue that JJ is not one of the highest uh basketball IQ players and thinkers in today’s game how do we now take that and deliver it to our players that’s our goal here and something we’re really really excited about the Lakers don’t have anybody who’s like 20 years old they have like Max Christie who’s 21 um and uh I guess jayen Hino is in that kind of age range as well but I don’t know I guess I found all of this development stuff kind of annoying because you have LeBron James you have Anthony Davis how what are you going to do to put them in an immediate spot to win a championship so all of that like verbal diarrhea stuff like it’s just like just just we’re good I’m good go back to JJ throw to JJ Rob stop talking like like I’m good like just just just like we’re good here I’m I’m I’m I’m plenty fine with hearing about the modium of learning that that children have nowadays baso writes uh why would the Lakers not be okay with Rondo as head coach because of the issues uh but would be fine with him as an assistant coach because a head coach is in many ways the face of your organization they are now the Lakers are somewhat kind of unique in that LeBron is the face of the organization he is always out in front uh talking to media and stuff like that but in terms of the person who interacts with and speaks publicly the most with media that tends to be your head coach um it’s why Darin ham kind of wore on people throughout the organization the way that he did because all of his press conferences sounded started sounding the same and um if you have somebody in Rondo who has those issues like literally currently going on um in the case of his gun and drug charges um that I believe again are in Indiana he has to answer to those with every new development and he would have to answer those questions there in that moment when he’s getting introduced you don’t have press conferences for assistant coach hires those things don’t happen they basically get to kind of operate in the background and and it becomes easier to kind of deal with or yeah I’m going to say deal with uh those issues when it’s somebody who isn’t as as forward facing as JJ reck is going to be uh Justin Tindle uh writes there has always been a Laker tax but it seems to have gone through the roof since pinka has been GM that that is something I’ve thought a lot about Justin in that you see that you see that I remembered your name Justin um even though it’s right underneath me but uh like the the notion of the Lakers tax and how it may have risen with Rob pinka um look Rob is a former agent who negotiated against a lot of the the the executives throughout the league um so his relationship with those GMS may not be the best he also um is not exactly known for upfrontness if you guys can catch my drift there um and the concern there sometimes with with uh Rob is that if he is having negotiations somehow some way those names make them so you know become public and stuff um and sometimes GMS who are in the middle of negoti ation don’t necessarily love that um but yeah like this is something that I have wanted the Lakers to add to their front office is somebody who has who is like on a little bit better standing with other people throughout the league so that maybe the communication between the Lakers and team X is better than it has been the last few years like the reputation that Rob currently has and you saw it he talked about it in that press conference he’s looking for the perfect deal and what that usually means is he’s that guy in your fantasy league who is always offering these trades that you just kind of say like I never want to negotiate with you ever I would rather deal with anybody else in the league other than this guy and I think that’s where the Lakers would be smart I don’t think it’s going to happen we’ll see um but I think they would be smart to provide Rob with a little bit more support staff specifically with people who have better relationships with others throughout the league all right that is uh going to do it for this episode here of the Lakers Lowdown podcast thank you everybody a ton for all of the questions and the comments and stuff like that a reminder please do hit that subscribe button uh down there right below this uh this here video hit that like button as well that also really helps uh the things that we are trying to do here in the lounge um and then keep an eye out we have a fun episode tomorrow uh I’m gon to be joined by Mir and fader I don’t know like we’re going to be recording pretty early so I think I’ll probably wind up um releasing it a little bit later in the evening here on YouTube and then obviously the following morning um in podcast form um so you have that to look forward to as well Aaron we’re we’ll see what kind of availability he has um later in the week as well but the good news is on Wednesday we have the first round of the draft and then on Thursday we have the second round of the draft I think I’m probably just going to hop on here and watch that here live with you uh let me know what you guys think about that as an option so until then and until the rest the next time you guys here from me I’m Anthony Irwin saying have a great rest of your day make somebody else’s and I will talk to you tomorrow