Pat McAfee defends JJ Redick against former co-workers' "chatter" over Lakers HC role
Pat McAfee has weighed in on the Lakers head coach role going to JJ Redick and the talk that has accompanied the appointment. While it had been widely reported that he was among the favorites to get the role, there were always going to be doubts about him. He is going to a flagship franchise in the NBA, that has just fallen behind their great rivals, the Celtics, in the race for most championships and that has the GOAT LeBron James on its roster.
It was never going to be easy for anyone to walk into this scenario but JJ Redick does not have any coaching experience to fall back upon. He does have experience as an analyst on ESPN and one would have expected them to back him for the role, but there have been murmurs of some of his co-workers being unhappy with him. Pat McAfee, of the same network, voiced his displeasure about the whole thing, saying,
"I don't appreciate or like, how JJ Redick has been talked about by a lot of people who have been co-workers of JJ Redick... Everything he accomplished in basketball would lead you to believe 'Oh, this guy might be a good coach.' And now JJ Redick got the job or was seemingly going to get the job. A lot of people on TV are acting like he's not the right guy for the job..."
Pat McAfee added that he did not feel the chatter around JJ Redick made sense and wondered if it was down to pettiness, adding,
"... none of it really makes sense about the chatter around JJ. Is it because, potentially, they weren't the ones that knew that JJ Redick was, maybe going to be [the next Lakers head coach], is it at that level of pettiness?"
Pat McAfee wonders if JJ Redick is the next coaching sensation
Pat McAfee also added that while one can only judge JJ Redick after he has been in place, there is no reason to deem him a failure before he has even started. Noting that there is always a possibility that such an appointment could look inspired, the current ESPN personality said,
"Or is JJ Redick gonna stink as a head coach? I guess that is what we'll see. That is what is being alleged seemingly by a lot of his former co-workers now at ESPN and around the sports media world. But what if this guy is the next one?"
It's over to the Lakers' new head coach to show his worth on the floor and away from the comfortable setting of a studio.