It's not uncommon for a former NBA player to make the transition to coaching, but no one has had a path to the head of a NBA team quite like Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick.

Redick was an 11th overall pick in the 2006 NBA Draft and played 15 season before retiring after the 2020-21 season. After that, he began a career hosting a podcast, but just as quickly, he was hired as the head coach of the Lakers in June 2024.

Having been retired for just three seasons before being hired as a head coach, Redick has played with or against most of the players that are either on the roster that he's now guiding or on the teams he's now coaching against. That includes star Luka Doncic, who Redick played with in the final half-season of his career in Dallas.

Being so recently removed from his playing career gives Redick an incredible insight into the way that the game is played and into the minds of his players and their opponents. The schemes that many teams employ are fresh in his mind and he has a keen sense of how to combat said schemes and adjust his team's playstyle.

More than that, his recent playing experience and the varied routes that his career took him on means that he has an uncanny ability to relate to his players and help guide them further.

"I got to experience every single role in the NBA, so there's a relatability, there's an empathy that I have for every single guy. Whether they're in the rotation getting 12 minutes, starting, whatever," Redick said (via The Sporting Tribune). 

That connection has paid dividends for Redick and the Lakers already. In two seasons, Redick has a 103-51 record and has taken the Lakers to two straight playoffs.

They were first-round exits against the Minnesota Timberwolves last season, but so far this season they've put up an improbable 2-0 lead on the Houston Rockets, despite missing their two biggest stars in Doncic and Austin Reaves.

Redick also stressed that he can't just rely on his relatability and his memory from his playing career. He explained that his biggest strength was his adaptability.

Even in the handful of years since he's retired, Redick said he's noticed the way the game has changed and now that he's a head coach, he's been able to keep up with the pace of the game and adapt his coaching style in turn.

It's clearly been effective and with someone so closely in tune with the game at the helm, the Lakers have been able to stack success upon success.