Former NBA coach says Lakers’ expectations for JJ Redick are ‘a little crazy’, laments Los Angeles squad

Stan Van Gundy knows JJ Redick well.

Van Gundy coached Redick for five years at the start of his career in Orlando and again at the end of Redick’s career in New Orleans. Van Gundy also knows the Lakers. He called several games for TNT last season and is on schedule for Tuesday’s season opener.

Van Gundy has great respect for Redick and believes he will be a great coach one day, but he believes Redick is in for a bumpy ride this coming season.

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Why Stan Van Gundy doesn’t believe in this Lakers roster

Van Gundy hasn’t been particularly popular with the Lakers this season, and that’s because of personnel.

“I don’t think this is one of the better squads in the Western Conference by any means,” Van Gundy said in a phone call with Sporting News. “This is a 40-year-old LeBron James, and the expectations are getting a little crazy.”

Redick has been praised for his great relationship with LeBron and players have spoken more positively about him than his predecessor, Darvin Ham. But Van Gundy is skeptical about how important that really is at the end of the day.

“When I read comments about how this player loves this coach, it is meaningless to me. If I want to know if the relationship is working, all I have to do is watch the games and watch how the boys play, how the team plays, how the individual players play, because your job as a coach is to get the boys to perform at their best .

“Pat Riley had the best statement on player relations I have ever heard. He said that the player-coach relationship is a business relationship aimed at achieving a result.”

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Stan Van Gundy has long-term confidence in JJ Redick

Van Gundy had high praise for Redick, noting that he had seen firsthand how smart Redick was.

“JJ’s greatest strength is that he is incredibly focused on improving, learning more about the game and figuring things out. His intelligence, attention to detail and discipline allowed him to have the career he had. He’s a better athlete than people think, but he certainly wasn’t a guy who could get by in the NBA based on his athleticism. So he really had to know what was going on.”

While that basketball IQ is impressive, Van Gundy doesn’t believe it determines a coach’s performance.

“You don’t judge coaches based on their knowledge. It’s what their players do on the field. That’s the only thing that matters. The smartest man in the world may not be a good boss. Intelligence is not what separates men.”

To his credit, Redick delivered this performance in the preseason. The Lakers need to shoot more threes, and Ham tried to get Anthony Davis to shoot six per game last year. He ended up averaging a paltry 1.4 per game.

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Redick tries to open up Davis’ game too. He has gotten the big man to shoot from deep 4.3 times per game in his four preseason games.

This change comes as no surprise to Van Gundy. He’s seen Redick excel at developing his own game, and he believes those skills translate to coaching as well.

“If JJ wanted to improve, he wasn’t the guy who was just going to make a lot of throws. He was very focused on the things he wanted to work on and was disciplined about doing those things every time. I’m sure he’ll feel the same way as a coach.”

Van Gundy believes Redick’s attention to detail and discipline will make him successful in Los Angeles, but the team needs to change its coaching approach and take a long-term perspective instead of focusing on short-term results.

“What concerns JJ more than anything is the expectation that comes with coaching the Lakers. Darvin Ham got two years and reached the Western Conference finals in one of those years, and he’s out.

“If the Lakers organization is in it for the long haul, then I have no doubt that JJ will be a very successful coach. He has the intelligence. He has the commitment, the will and the work ethic. But that doesn’t mean they’ll win 60 games this year. At some point it all comes back to the players.”