JJ Redick has been surpassed by UConn’s Dan Hurley in the race to become the Lakers’ next head coach, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, and it now turns out Redick was never the best candidate in the eyes of Anthony Davis.
Instead, Davis reportedly preferred fellow candidate James Borrego, according to NBA insider Marc Stein.
“It has been suggested in some corners of the league that Lakers star big man Anthony Davis probably prefers for James Borrego to get the job over Redick,” Stein said in his substack. “Not only has Borrego been a head coach twice already in Orlando and Charlotte compared to Redick’s lack of head coaching experience, but he and Davis overlapped briefly during Borrego’s first stint with the Pelicans after Davis was drafted No. 1 overall in June 2012.”
Stein’s report was published before Wojnarowski broke the news about Dan Hurley.
Davis isn’t afraid to speak out about the Lakers’ coaching staff, which was evident when he torched them during the first round of the playoffs.
LeBron obviously has a strong connection to Redick, since the pair started a podcast together in recent months.
But even James’ agent, Rich Paul, thinks that AD should have more sway than LeBron in the Lakers’ coaching decision.
“In my opinion, the Lakers focus should probably be more so on Anthony Davis than LeBron at this point,” Paul told B/R late last month. “I think for him being so good for so long, people just think he controls the team. There’s no controlling of the team. And JJ is a friend. We respect JJ. I know LeBron and JJ have the podcast. I did JJ’s podcast. Me and JJ talk hoops all the time. He does know hoops. But just because they have a podcast, the Lakers have to make a decision for now and later.”
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