Ex-NBA champion asks JJ Redick to avoid Lakers job: 'Death sentence'

Since LeBron James joined the Lakers in 2018, the franchise has dismissed three head coaches — Luke Walton, Frank Vogel and Darvin Ham. As such, any coach who takes up the job is in perennial danger of being kicked to the curb. 

That's precisely why former NBA player Channing Frye has advised his friend, JJ Redick, to steer clear of the job and look elsewhere. Frye's comments came in the aftermath of several insiders suggesting that Redick had emerged as the favorite to succeed Ham as Lakers head coach.

"To be honest, I think it's a death sentence," Frye told NBA TV on Wednesday. "I think he's jumping on a grenade. I know for a fact that JJ is a coach, but taking that job — I just don't know — that's a lot. You're jumping in and not only coaching in the NBA, when you haven't ever done that before, but you're also coaching Anthony Davis, D'Angelo Russell and LeBron James. How do you know time and score situations? This is not a 'let's learn your way through' job. I wouldn't take that job."

Frye then endorsed Celtics assistant Sam Cassell or Pelicans assistant James Borrego for the Lakers vacancy, citing their experience coaching veteran teams in recent years. 

According to several reports, Redick, Cassell and Borrego are among a long list of candidates that also includes Heat's Chris Quinn, Warriors' Kenny Atkinson, Nuggets' David Adelman, Timberwolves' Micah Nori and Mavericks' Sean Sweeney. The Lakers are reportedly expected to bide their time and undergo a lengthy interviewing process before naming Ham's successor.

Earlier this week, former Heat player Udonis Haslem also put the kibosh on the idea of a Reddick-Lakers union, suggesting that Redick's friendship with LeBron James  — the two run a podcast together — could cause unrest in the Lakers locker room. 

Will Redick and the Lakers ignore the warnings from their peers? Redick, the retired sharpshooter-turned-analyst, has repeatedly stressed his desire to become a coach in the NBA. 

"I have a desire to coach in the NBA. Life is about timing, life is about the right situation," Redick told "The Pivot" podcast in April. "So, I can't say a when, and I can't say a definite it's going to happen. The ecosystem that I've built and worked for over the last three years [in the media space], I take a lot of, I wouldn’t say pride because I don't want to say it's prideful, I take a lot of joy in this, and I love doing it, and it's important to me."