South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley poked fun at current Los Angeles Lakers coach JJ Redick. This happened when he admitted not spending a ton of time in North Philadelphia, which happened to be Staley’s birthplace.
South Carolina coach Dawn Staley (left) and L.A. Lakers coach and former Duke star JJ Redick [IMAGN]
Staley was a guest on Redick’s “The Old Man and The Three: Coaching Series” podcast with Tommy Alter, posted on YouTube on Jan. 18, 2022. She was asked about how she ended up in Virginia despite the fact that she’s from North Philadelphia.
However, before Staley answered that question, she asked Redick if he had ever gone to North Philadelphia when he played with the 76ers. Redick reacted and said:
“Didn’t spend a ton of time there. I’m gonna be honest with you Dawn, I was commuting. I was doing some commuting from Brooklyn to Philly. I typically hung out in Camden and South Philly,” the NBA veteran turned Lakers coach added (9:07-9:20).
This brought Alter and Staley laughing at Redick’s answer to his admission. Redick played for two seasons with the Philadelphia 76ers between 2017 and 2019 and during that time, he posted his highest averages in points in his 15-year career.
He averaged 17.1 points per game in the 2017-18 and followed that up with an 18.1 ppg average the following season.
JJ Redick and Dawn Staley talk about seeing greatness in every player despite his/her flaws
JJ Redick and Dawn Staley also discussed how a coach should evaluate a player who isn’t fundamentally sound but does a lot of things on the court.
Redick emphasized that as a talent evaluator or a coach, it is important to focus on enhancing the player’s positive traits. There is a need to focus on the great things that he/she can offer in a game rather than nitpicking his/her frequent lapses.
“You have to be able to see the greatness and recognize that the greatness outweighs the bad you have to take some of the bad with the good,” Redick said (18:13).
Staley responded that it is an important piece of coaching that every future coach should understand and take into consideration.
“It’s also a fine line as well because you got other players saying: ‘Hey this guy turn this ball over I can take care of it.’ I can, yeah, but you can’t get the steals. You’re not that explosive with the basketball. You aren’t productive,” she said. (19:00).
Dawn Staley also incorporated communication with the player as another important factor in motivating him/her to perform a lot better on the court. The three-time national champion coach pointed out that talking with the player about his/her role with the team solves a lot of problems.
JJ Redick is on his maiden season as coach of the LA Lakers, who are led by the superstar duo of LeBron James and Anthony Davis. The Lakers are currently 10th in the Western Conference standings with a 14-12 record.
