JJ Redick requested permission from Luka Doncic to coach him brutally honestly.
Before Tuesday’s Los Angeles Lakers vs. Dallas Mavericks game, JJ Redick revealed some intriguing information about his initial discussions with Luka Doncic. During his pregame press conference, Redick disclosed that he had asked Doncic if he would feel at ease with some challenging coaching.
“Him and I communicated the very first day he got to LA,” Redick stated. ‘Are you comfortable being coached with honesty?’ was the simple question. “Yes,” he replied. “Are you at ease receiving coaching that uses direct communication?” “Yes, that’s what I want,” he said. “All right,” I said, “so you and I will be fine, and we have.”
Some may laugh at Redick for essentially requesting permission in this situation, but the truth is that you have to train the superstars the way they want to be coached, at least in part. They are unlikely to stay in their position for very long if a head coach treats them with a “my way or the highway” mentality.
Redick was lucky that Doncic agreed with his coaching philosophy. The fact that they were teammates on the Mavericks in the past likely helped him in this case as well. They seem to have gotten along rather well during that time, as seen by the two times Doncic appeared on Redick’s podcast, The Old Man and the Three.
The positive relationship likely meant Doncic wouldn’t have as much trouble hearing some hard truths from Redick as compared to a coach he didn’t really know. So, there were a lot of factors working in the 40-year-old’s favor when he put forth those questions.
As for this game Redick was speaking before, the Lakers would go on to win 107-99 in Doncic’s first outing against the Mavericks. The five-time All-Star would have been going through a lot emotionally on the night, and Redick stated postgame that he felt he handled it well.
