Hey, look who's back! The once and future king, and there's still a chance he can pull off this half-baked, retarded version!
Yes, Jonathan Clay Redick is back and better than ever, interviewing for the Lakers coaching job before the 45-day cobwebs have even been shaken off. The potential successor to Darvin Ham, who once seemed like the figment of Shams' fevered fantasy, is back in the running again. And so the pre-Dan Hurley explanations, the rationalizations for why this never-coached guy is back as the next Steve Kerr version, are back.
Or at least that's what the Lakers' anthill of a desert cart is desperately trying to convince us: they wanted the ESPN guy from Duke, not the neighborhood gym-goer from Seton Hall, who just came close to Harley. Well, at this point, no one knows. Neither does Shams, or his Spy-vs-Spy nemesis Woj. They're both pro wrestlers, so last names aren't necessary. They've graduated from a “last-minute scoop” reality where titles are handed out no matter how well they actually perform. In that respect, they're like the Lakers.
Speaking of which, we've gotten to the point where the Lakers' real problem isn't Redick, it's their recruiters and their embarrassing transparency. In an era when most teams are much better at hiding their intentions, the Lakers are a bar with beaded doors and saran-wrap walls. They wear their utter bewilderment like a see-through cloak, with multiple secret spokesmen seemingly working for entirely different purposes. If the Redick thing doesn't work out this time, I wouldn't be surprised if they try to hire Bill Belichick to help them win the Stanley Cup.
They provide Redick with the perfect cover in their own way because whatever flaws there are in his coaching or political game, they are not Redick's responsibility. That means no one knows who is leading the Lakers at any given moment, and no one seems to brag about it based on results. The Lakers have turned into a Tiffany's store window with Target jewelry inside, and the only thing they're good at outside of Bronian is changing the nameplates on the coaches' office doors.
The anomaly here is that the Lakers are still considered an elite team despite not having a billionaire owner with a clear organizational policy or a recent track record of success. In soccer terms, they're Crystal Palace, a cool name for a mid-table team. The Lakers have exactly one advantage over King James, and that's that people say to their shortcomings, “Yeah, but they're the Lakers.”
Will Redick change this? Probably not, as the Lakers are among the league leaders in ignoring a coach before replacing him. Will Redick gain valuable experience learning a non-basketball job? Absolutely, as long as the next job involves developing the league's next generation of players/talents. Will this work? This has worked for Kerr. Kerr is a great addition to a smart front office with its own generation of players and the right support staff.
But if Redick is there when the Lakers become a real powerhouse again, not just a superficial one, he certainly won't get any credit. That's been said many times already. He'll realize that being the Lakers' coach is really just a way to make money by sullying his reputation. Frank Vogel won a title as the Lakers' coach four years ago, but he's been fired twice since then.
Anyway, congratulations to Redick for earning his previously secured and now secured position. He'll soon find out what a poisoned flask he inherited. He'll probably be the first to say or do something he wants to keep to himself. Because the Lakers have this thing. They even have saran wrap on the walls of their locker room.
