The Los Angeles Lakers have brought the Mind the Game podcast to an NBA locker room. It's one of the more fascinating stories to have unfolded this offseason, as Los Angeles turned co-hosts to head coach and star player by hiring JJ Redick to lead LeBron James and the Lakers.
A recent report has revealed just how deep the roots of the decision run—and how far they go beyond their podcast.
James and Redick took the sports media world by storm with Mind the Game, as they provided an educational slant in a world that often prioritizes the sensational. It was something of a precursor to what Lakers fans are hoping transpires in Los Angeles, with a winning culture being born from thorough analysis and an informative approach to coaching.
According to Dave McMenamin of ESPN, James and Redick nearly joined forces in an entirely different capacity several years back: As teammates.
"Early in James' L.A. tenure, the Lakers inquired about trading with New Orleans for Redick but nothing developed, sources told ESPN."
Redick played for the Pelicans between 2019-20 and 2020-21, meaning the trade nearly materialized sometime during or directly after the Lakers' championship season.
Lakers nearly traded for JJ Redick in 2019-20 or 2020-21
Even when exclusively focusing on his playing career, Redick is one of the most fascinating case studies in NBA history. He epitomizes the belief that some players were drafted just a few seasons too soon, as he followed a legendary college career with a late bloom of a professional tenure.
It wasn't until his fifth NBA season that Redick averaged at least 10.0 points per game, and he set his career-best scoring average of 18.1 in his 13th season—at 34 years of age, on a 51-win team.
Redick finished the 2019-20 season, when the Lakers may have been interested in him, with an average of 15.3 points per game. He knocked down 3.0 three-point field goals per game while converting an obscene 45.3 percent of his attempts from beyond the arc.
Redick retired after the 2020-21 season, but not without first showing how well his game translated to the modern era—if not influenced its innovation with his success at Duke.
The fact that Los Angeles had an interest in him speaks to how strong James' desire to work with Redick on a daily basis truly is. It's been a minimal pursuit of three years of this pairing, albeit as it manifests in a perhaps unexpected manner.
Even as the dynamics have changed from fellow players to podcast co-hosts to head coach and superstar, the theme of mutual respect has remained consistent.
One of the foundational aspects of this relationship is likely the fact that Redick has a unique perspective on what James has gone through as the face of the NBA. During his Duke Blue Devils career, Redick was the face of college basketball—facing vitriole from every opposing fan base in the country.
With an undeniably high basketball IQ and an earned perspective on the pitfalls of superstardom, Redick will finally join forces with James in what's certain to be a season to remember.