The Lakers kicked off their summer break by signing their star player to a contract extension in a flashy news conference featuring Balkan walk-up music and a photo gallery display of Luka Doncic’s best Lakers moments. The team returned Thursday by announcing their continued commitment to their coach.
Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka announced head coach JJ Redick had signed a contract extension at a news conference with the coach as the Lakers begin training camp next Tuesday.
Redick signed a four-year, $32-million contract last year as a first-time head coach and led the Lakers to a 50-32 regular-season record and the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference before losing to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of playoffs. The terms of the new deal were not announced.
“We think he’s a special coach with a special voice that’s really helping us define the culture of Lakers excellence,” Pelinka said. “We just wanted to make a clear statement that this is what we believe in, what we’re going to lean into and what our players are going to mold into as we continue to develop the identity. I think having long-term planning is helpful as we build this team and go forward.”
Redick’s extension was one of the finishing touches on what Pelinka called “an intentional and productive offseason.” The Lakers touted major additions of center Deandre Ayton and perimeter players Marcus Smart and Jake LaRavia who were each hand-selected for their fits around Doncic and LeBron James.
James opted into the final year of his contract, and Doncic signed a three-year extension on the first day the Lakers could offer in August.
After a blockbuster midseason trade brought the former Dallas Maverick to L.A. in February, Doncic and James will enter their first full season together with questions about how the Lakers can best balance the 40-year-old James and his 26-year-old fellow star.
Redick, who said he had two productive in-person meetings with James this offseason, will oversee the league’s most-watched transfer of power.
Redick recognized that joining the Lakers brings consistent pressure. Then he was also transitioning from broadcasting to coaching while moving cities, settling his children into new schools and adjusting to a seismic midseason trade. Redick’s first year came with little time to reflect or process.
After the Lakers were eliminated from the first round of the playoffs, Redick paused to consider his new career. He ruminated for weeks on how to define his philosophy as a coach and his methodology. He searched for answers in meetings with Rams coach Sean McVay, former NFL quarterback Tom Brady and Brady’s former New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick.
Through their conversations, he came away with a simple strategy to achieve success.
“We’re going to ask guys to be in championship shape, have championship communication and championship habits,” Redick said. “That’s a daily commitment to that.”
James, who will start an unprecedented 23rd NBA season next week, has always been committed to those pillars, Redick said. Doncic has followed suit.
The Slovenian superstar’s rebuilt and slimmed down body was the talk of the NBA summer after major magazine profiles in Men’s Health and the Wall Street Journal. The offseason work paid off in EuroBasket, where Doncic averaged 34.7 points, 8.6 rebounds and 7.1 assists in Slovenia’s run to the quarterfinals. He was named to the tournament’s five-man All-Star team.
But after traveling to Poland to not only watch Doncic play but to observe Slovenian team practices, Pelinka came away just as impressed by Doncic’s off-court habits as his on-court game.
“How he not only led by example, but he was very demonstrative in the practice in terms of his expectations of the team, how they played, their togetherness,” Pelinka said. “Just seeing that continued evolution and growth with him as not only a leader by example but a leader with his voice really stood out to me.”
Redick noted Doncic’s improved movement and defense during the European competition, and the coach expects to see the same version of the star guard stateside.
“I expect the best version of Luka,” Redick said, “and it’s my job as a coach to bring that out on a daily basis.”
This story originally appeared on LA Times
