Kendrick Perkins, a former teammate of Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James, revealed that he called Udonis Haslem to show him love after his comments about the Lakers’ coaching search this offseason.
“Udonis Haslem, I had to call him and tell him I appreciated him yesterday,” Perkins said. “He did a great job on NBA Today. He came out – you know what he said? He said, ‘I’ma say it.’ He said, ‘If you hire J.J. Redick, it’s going to be [cynical] in that locker room.’ And he’s right.
“… So, what he’s saying basically is that if J.J. do get the job, is J.J. words coming from J.J. or are they coming from LeBron James, right? And no matter how you wanna look at it, guys are gonna be with that side-eye like, ‘Yeah, alright. Do he really mean that?’”
Perkins also believes that if Redick gets the job for the Lakers, his main focus needs to be on star Anthony Davis.
He referenced Haslem’s comments earlier this week, where the Heat legend also mentioned why he thinks Heat assistant coach Chris Quinn would be a good choice for the job.
“If it’s JJ [Redick], you’re going to have a cynical locker room.” 😳 @ThisIsUD on the Lakers’ head coach search. pic.twitter.com/ufJZbJjrma
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) May 14, 2024
“Now, I’m not just saying this because Chris Quinn is my guy, but Chris Quinn has relationships in coaching LeBron James in Miami prior to LeBron going to L.A.,” Haslem said. “So, I know he’s a guy that LeBron respects.”
It’s certainly important to wonder how the rest of the Lakers roster would perceive any hire this offseason, especially since James and Redick currently have a podcast called “Mind the Game” together.
Perkins and Haslem aren’t the only two players to caution against a potential Redick hire this offseason.
Channing Frye, another one of James’ former teammates, believes that it would be a “death sentence” for Redick if he were to take the job.
Redick, Sam Cassell and James Borrego reportedly are amongst the leading candidates for the job this offseason.
Sam Cassell is a leading candidate for the Lakers coaching job, per @ShamsCharania and @jovanbuha
J.J. Redick and James Borrego are also leading candidates. pic.twitter.com/JvZ8edPUsF
— Lakers Daily (@LakersDailyCom) May 14, 2024
Haslem certainly has a lot of experience playing with James, as he was a part of two teams that won the NBA Finals in Miami.
With the NBA’s all-time leading scorer nearing the end of his career, the Lakers certainly want to add a coach that he will like, but they also have to think about life after James as well.
Redick, who had a long career in the NBA and was a lethal 3-point shooter, has not held a coaching job of any kind in the NBA yet in his post-playing career.
