LeBron James, JJ Redick Podcast Cancelled After Ex-NBA Player Hired As New Lakers Coach
JJ Redick has a new title -- Los Angeles Lakers Head Coach.
Despite not having any prior coaching experience in the league, the 15-year NBA shooting guard is taking over the top role left by Darvin Ham, who steered the team from 2022 to the end of the 2023-2024 NBA season.
This new position means Redick will have to leave his job as a content creator -- a post he recently bolstered by launching a podcast with Lakers superstar, LeBron James.
"For the time being, and hopefully it's a very, very long time, I am excommunicated from the content space," Redick said during a press conference on Monday, per TMZ.
"There will be no podcasts. We'll do something when I have a breather from what we have coming up -- I'm gonna be drinking from a fire hose for the next month."
The Tennessee native, who never donned a Lakers jersey during his playing years, was the first active NBA player to start a podcast in 2016. He continued as a content creator, hosting podcasts, launching his YouTube channel, and eventually co-founding his own media company, ThreeFourTwo Productions, alongside being a game analyst.
In March, Redick and James launched their podcast, "Mind The Game."
"Mind The Game is an entry into the heralded basketball minds of LeBron James and JJ Redick. The two sit down weekly to discuss the state of the game, dissect X's and O's, and wax poetic about the game they love," the podcast's description read.
The show only had nine episodes before Redick announced his career change, forcing it to be canceled abruptly.
While the former LA Clipper confirmed he's "done with podcasting for now," Redick said he'll do a proper send-off for his fans and listeners.
Redick, who celebrated his 40th birthday on Monday, admitted that he has "zero coaching experience in the NBA." However, he believes his years as a podcaster and an ESPN analyst helped him prepare for his new role.
"Being able to connect with the players, talking to them on the podcast, being in coaching interviews with ESPN calling games, analyzing the game in three different formats. All of that has helped prepare me to be an NBA head coach," he said, per CNN.
Redick's first challenge as the Lakers head coach will be the 2024 NBA Draft happening on June 26 and 27.
