Former NBA player Steve Francis criticizes the Lakers’ decision to hire JJ Redick as coach

After an extensive search and one candidate rejecting an offer, the Los Angeles Lakers named former NBA player JJ Redick as the franchise’s next head coach in June.

Dan Hurley, who coached the UConn Huskies men’s basketball team to a second consecutive NCAA title in April, turned down an offer from the Lakers in June.

The franchise’s choice was quickly met with praise and skepticism, with many critics pointing to Redick’s lack of coaching experience. This week, three-time NBA All-Star Steve Francis became the latest critic to raise concerns about the Lakers’ decision.

“I love basketball, but there’s no way that’s possible just because he went to Duke and criticizes people on TV like he sounds like a great coach,” Francis recently told the Live from the District podcast.

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Francis then mentioned a few assistant coaches he thought the Lakers could have considered in their coaching search.

“But I look at it like all these other guys who have put in a lot of work. You have my son David Vanterpool here in Washington. You have Sam Cassell. They have so many guys who have championship experience. All these guys that have experience and are being noticed just because it’s popular with this generation right now because these guys are doing these podcasts.

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Before taking the coaching job with the Lakers, Redick hosted the podcast “The Old Man and the Three.” He also co-hosted the podcast “Mind the Game” with four-time NBA champion LeBron James.

During his introductory press conference, Redick acknowledged that he had not coached in the NBA.

“I’ve never coached in the NBA before. “I don’t know if you’ve heard that,” Redick said with a sarcastic grin.

But a reporter followed up on that statement from Redick, asking if he had heard the critics and naysayers and if he wanted to clear up any “misconceptions” about the role of the team’s next head coach.

“That’s a fair question, and I’ve certainly heard it all,” Redick replied. “It’s been about six really interesting weeks just in terms of being part of the engagement farming industry. It was really interesting.”

“However, I don’t really have a good answer to your questions because I really don’t give a shit. Honestly, I want to coach the Lakers. I want to coach the team. I don’t do that.” I don’t want to rule anything out. I want to be a great coach in the NBA, and I want my players to maximize their careers.

Even though Redick spent 15 seasons in the NBA, Francis suspected that Redick might have difficulty getting his message across in the Lakers’ locker room. He also predicted that James would essentially ignore coach Redick.

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“What is going to happen is exactly as if Darvin Ham were the coach. “LeBron won’t hear a single word JJ says,” Francis added. “Why should you listen to him? I wouldn’t listen to him if he coached me. I just look at how much I bake him and say, ‘What do you say? You know what I do, so talk.’ to someone else.’

“So he’s definitely going to have a hard time getting by and the camaraderie of the circus around him and his son is going to be a lot of distraction for a new coach and we’ll see what happens.”

The Lakers have three preseason games left before opening their regular season on October 22 against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Fox News’ Scott Thompson contributed to this report.

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