Trey Murphy cites weird nature of playing against JJ Redick's Lakers - "He's actually a friend"
Trey Murphy and the New Orleans Pelicans won't play JJ Redick and the LA Lakers until Nov. 16; however, Murphy already knows that it's going to be weird playing against someone he considers a friend. Although the two won't be battling it out on the court, the dynamic of playing against a coach who Murphy is friends with is a foreign concept to him.
During Thursday's episode of "The Young Man and the Three" with Tommy Alter, who used to co-host the show with Redick, Murphy spoke about the situation. As Alter explained, he and Redick had interviewed several NBA players.
During those interviews, the two built rapport and established good relationships with them. However, Murphy knows that when he steps on the court at Smoothie King Center on Nov. 16, he can't crack jokes with Redick, who will be standing on the sideline.
"It's weird because I know everybody in the NBA talk about my coach, Willie Green, how they were like, friends, teammates with him," Murphy said. "JJ's actually like a friend of mine and he's a head coach. It's weird, like, seeing him on the sideline and it's like, I want to crack a joke, but it's like, wait, I'm supposed to hate you right now?"
"I'm not supposed to like you. ... I think that's what I'm more excited about, it's not necessarily getting buckets on the Lakers, it's more so getting buckets on JJ's scheme."
"It's a long season," - JJ Redick opens up on getting his first win as a coach
In the offseason, there was a lot of talk and hype surrounding the Lakers' decision to hire JJ Redick as Darvin Ham's replacement. While the team initially offered UConn coach Dan Hurley the position, they ultimately hired Redick, who brings a wealth of knowledge accumulated as a player.
The Lakers were able to defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves in Redick's first game in charge. Minnesota was a slight favorite heading into the game as they made it to the Western Conference finals last year after eliminating the Denver Nuggets.
Despite securing his first win as a coach, JJ Redick said to media members after the game that he doesn't plan on getting caught up in one result:
“I’m not going to get caught up in the result," Redick said. "It’s a long season. We have talked since Day 1 about being about the process, and there were things that we emphasized this morning that we know we have to do to compete with Minnesota."
"And if we do those things, we can get better and learn and grow. We would all like to win. I’d like to go 82-0. But I fundamentally just can’t get caught up in, in wins and losses. It’s going to drive me crazy if we lose. I will tell you that."
The Lakers will be back in action on Friday when they face the Phoenix Suns, who also won their season opener on Wednesday against the LA Clippers at Intuit Dome.