TWO WEEKS BEFORE the start of training camp, JJ Redick sat in a workroom at the Los Angeles Lakers practice facility with his legs crossed, a team-issued quarter-zip up top and Nike Kobe sneakers down below. ("I never wore them when I played," Redick told ESPN, "but now that I'm here, [Lakers GM] Rob [Pelinka] has the hookup.") Redick had just finished running a sizable portion of the Lakers roster through a voluntary offseason practice, cognizant of what little time remained before the curtain opens on his first season as an NBA coach.
"Put 45 [minutes] on the clock, got right through it," Redick said of his approach to practice that day.