Former NBA player JJ Redick, now the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, has outlined his strategic vision for Bronny James, the Lakers’ No. 55 draft pick.
In a recent interview on SiriusXM NBA Radio, Redick elaborated on Bronny’s role as a developmental player within the Lakers organization: “Bronny and I have had a number of conversations. He’s a development player. That’s how we’re looking at Bronny.
“He’s certainly going to spend time with the Lakers. He will spend time as well in the G League. As we sort of build out our player development program, he’s going to be an important part of that.”
Redick emphasized the importance of defensive ball pressure, stating, “What I’ve communicated to him, right now what we’re looking for is defensive ball pressure.
“I told him this yesterday, I said ‘I don’t care if you have ten fouls, I don’t care if you get blown by. What I do care about is if you’re on the ball and you’re three feet off the ball. You have to be a guy that’s a ball hawk at all times.'”
Discussing Bronny’s defensive instincts, Redick highlighted, “We’re going to develop his shot, will develop his ball skills. He’s already got a great feel. He has a really good instinctive nature on the defensive end. I thought the third game in the Cali classic, he made 8 or 9 really good defensive plays.”
Redick drew parallels between Bronny and NBA defender Lu Dort, noting, “We were at the Canada-USA basketball exhibition game, and I turned to one of our assistant coaches during the game and I said, ‘I think, Lu Dort just single-handedly broke up the eighth possession of the game.’
“His impact – you can’t get into your offense sometimes. The shot clock winds down because of his ball pressure. He literally blows up entire plays because of that pressure. I really believe this, Bronny eventually will be that guy.”
