The Sports Report: The Lakers explain why they hired JJ Redick
Howdy, I’m your host, Iliana Limón Romero, filling in for Houston Mitchell, who is probably spending extra time preparing for the NBA draft. Let’s get right to the news.
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From Dan Woike: JJ Redick raised his voice, trophies glistening in an office window above his head, the banners still in the Lakers’ rafters.
There had been other opportunities for Redick to pursue post-retirement basketball life. He’d been podcasting and broadcasting. Last summer, he interviewed for a coaching job in Toronto. Earlier this offseason, he was a candidate in Charlotte.
After 15 years as an NBA player and three as a broadcaster, the future had finally truly presented itself.
“I’ve got to do some amazing stuff in my life. Right?” Redick said. “This might be the best. When I think about this job in particular, it’s not just about getting the job. … What, what I wanted to do was do the job. I wanted to coach the Los Angeles Lakers.”
Redick shared his passion and vision for the future of his new employer Monday, one in which he’ll probably be tasked with maximizing the Lakers’ immediate future while preparing them to adapt in real time with the changing NBA.
“We really had in mind, concepts around innovation and challenging ourselves to be forward thinking,” Pelinka said of the coaching search. “I think in industry in general and in sports in specific, sometimes it’s easy to get caught up in patterns, Being in … a sea of sameness and doing the same thing that everybody else is doing.
“But when we embarked on this search, it was really important for us to see if we could do something a little bit different.”
MORE REDICK:
Hernández: Lakers’ hiring of JJ Redick as coach is really out of the box
Watch JJ Redick announced as Los Angeles Lakers head coach
A final review before JJ Redick is introduced as the new Lakers coach
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DODGERS
From Jack Harris: In some ways, Bobby Miller feels like a freshman all over again.
He’s the youngest member of his team’s starting rotation, and also among the most important. He’s trying to aid a championship pursuit, while also refining his ever-evolving game on the fly.
It’s the same way Miller felt 10 years ago as a teenage prospect on his hometown high school team in McHenry, Ill., attempting to catapult his big-league dreams and establish himself as a future star in the making.
This year, the stage is different, but the circumstances are similar.
After flashing tantalizing stuff and consistent production in his rookie campaign with the Dodgers last year, Miller’s sophomore MLB season has been derailed by a couple of poor starts and, more frustrating, a two-month-long shoulder injury.
Despite going 11-4 in 2023 with a 3.76 ERA, he is having to prove himself all over again this year, trying to turn promising physical talent back into repeatable big-league dominance for a Dodgers team with World Series aspirations.
“He’s a big piece to the puzzle,” manager Dave Roberts said at the start of the season. “He’s a top-end guy.”
MORE DODGERS:
Another Miguel Rojas hit means another Dodgers win in shutout versus White Sox
Clayton Kershaw won’t throw for at least a week after feeling soreness in shoulder
UCLA
From Ben Bolch: The wooing is over, the cash committed, the targets landed.
What could be considered the first free-agency class in UCLA basketball history — six transfers who might fill all the team’s needs, not to mention as many as four starting spots — materialized in the wake of Mick Cronin’s worst season in 16 years.
Never one to hold back, Cronin told his players several harsh truths after they staggered to a 16-17 record. He was the coach at UCLA. He needed to assemble the best possible team, which meant overhauling a young roster. As much as he loved his current players, who had arguably overachieved on the way to a fifth-place finish in their final Pac-12 season, he understood if anyone wanted to depart given the expected influx of transfers.
In essence, it was the jettisoning of a wait-and-win development model in favor of an infusion of proven talent. As four players left for other teams and a fifth declared for the NBA draft, the Bruins snagged some of the transfer portal’s top talent, addressing deficiencies in shooting, rebounding and savvy.
How did they do it? Like any good sports franchise in 2024, they showed their targets the money.
MORE UCLA:
Meet the 2024-25 UCLA basketball transfer class: The quick-fix six
SOCCER
From Kevin Baxter: Costa Rica bent but never broke Monday, playing Brazil to a 0-0 draw in their opener at Copa América, South America’s quadrennial soccer championship that is being played in the U.S. this summer with six invited teams from elsewhere in the Americas.
With its injured captain Neymar watching from the sideline, Brazil dominated in possession, controlling the ball for more than 65 of the 90 minutes while outshooting Costa Rica 19-2. But it couldn’t score on Costa Rica keeper Patrick Sequeira, getting blanked for the third time in seven games.
Brazil lost a goal late in the first half after Marquinhos scored from close range off a set piece, only to be ruled offside after a lengthy video review. Then in the 63rd minute, Lucas Paqueta’s left-footed shot from outside the box eluded Sequeira but struck the near post
STANLEY CUP FINAL
From the Associated Press: Aleksander Barkov put his hands at either end of the Stanley Cup and began skating away to start the celebration that the Florida Panthers have wanted forever.
And as he began to hoist hockey’s chalice for the first time, he had one thought.
“It’s heavy,” he said.
A 37-pound trophy wasn’t too much for him. A three-game slide wasn’t too much for the Panthers. There was no stumble with the Cup, no collapse with the Cup on the line. The Panthers are champions for the first time, after taking about the hardest path possible to the title.
Sam Reinhart and Carter Verhaeghe scored goals, Sergei Bobrovsky made 23 saves and the Panthers beat the Edmonton Oilers 2-1 on Monday night in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final. It was the third title-round appearance in Florida’s 30-year history; it was swept in 1996 by Colorado and routed 4-1 by Vegas last season. And that loss last year was what this team needed.
Schedule and results
All times Pacific
Florida Panthers vs. Edmonton Oilers
at Florida 3, Edmonton 0 (box score)
at Florida 4, Edmonton 1 (box score)
Florida 4, at Edmonton 3 (box score)
at Edmonton 8, Florida 1 (box score)
Edmonton 5, at Florida 3 (box score)
at Edmonton 5, Florida 1 (box score)
at Florida 2, Edmonton 1 (box score)
ANGELS
From the Associated Press: Taylor Ward hit a two-run homer, Griffin Canning pitched seven strong innings and the Angels defeated the Oakland Athletics 5-1 on Monday night.
Ward gave the Angels a 2-0 lead with his drive to right field in the first inning and he had a ninth-inning leaping catch at the wall for the second consecutive game. He did the same at Dodger Stadium on Saturday.
“Very poetic,” Angels manager Ron Washington said of Ward’s performance. “We certainly needed what he gave us in the first inning and we needed to stop the momentum back there in the ninth inning.”
MORE ANGELS:
Angels pitcher Patrick Sandoval to undergo season-ending elbow surgery
COLLEGE BASEBALL
From the Associated Press: Tony Vitello jumped into the stands to share a group hug with the legion of Tennessee fans who invaded Omaha. His players ran a lap around the warning track high-fiving them. Kavares Tears squatted in right field taking in the moment with a towel over his eyes.
Tennessee at long last won its first national championship in baseball.
Christian Moore hit a leadoff homer, Dylan Dreiling went deep for the third time in three games and Tennessee survived anxious moments late to take the title with a 6-5 victory over Texas A&M on Monday night in Game 3 of the College World Series finals.
The Volunteers bounced back from a Game 1 loss to win two straight and become the first No. 1 national seed in the NCAA tournament to win the title since Miami in 1999.
OLYMPIC TRIALS
From the Associated Press: Olympic champion Athing Mu‘s hopes for a repeat came crashing down on the backstretch of the first lap of the 800-meter final at U.S. track and field trials Monday.
Racing in the middle of the pack, Mu got tangled up with a bunched group of runners and went crashing to the ground and rolled onto her back, her bright pink shoes flailing toward the sky.
Mu got back to her feet and finished but was more than 22 seconds behind the winner, Nia Akins, who ran 1 minute, 57.36 seconds.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1921 — Jock Hutchinson is the first American to win the British Open, a nine-stroke victory over Roger Wethered in a playoff.
1926 — Bobby Jones becomes the first amateur in 29 years to win the British Open. Jones finishes with a 291 total for a two-stroke over Al Watrous at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club in Lytham St Annes, England.
1932 — Gene Sarazen wins the U.S. Open by shooting a 286, the lowest in 20 years.
1935 — Future world heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis moves to 20-0 with 6th round KO of former champion Primo Carnera of Italy at Yankee Stadium, NYC.
1948 — Joe Louis knocks out Jersey Joe Walcott in the 11th round in New York to defend his world heavyweight title. Louis announces his retirement after the fight.
1952 — Jim Turnesa wins the PGA Championship with a 1-up victory over Chick Harbert in the final round.
1966 — Buckpasser sets a world record in the 1-mile Arlington Classic in 1:32 3-5 and becomes the first 3-year-old to win more than $1 million.
1969 — Pancho Gonzalez, 41, wins the longest tennis match in Wimbledon history by beating Charles Pasarell in a 112-game match, 22-24, 1-6, 16-14, 6-3, 11-9. The match is played over two days and lasts 5 hours, 12 minutes.
1978 — In Buenos Aires, Argentina wins the World Cup beating Netherlands 3-1 after extra time.
1981 — Sugar Ray Leonard wins the WBA junior middleweight title with a ninth-round knockout of Ayub Kalule in Houston.
1988 — MLB player Cal Ripken Jr. plays in his 1,000th consecutive game.
1988 — UEFA European Championship Final, Olympiastadion, Munich, Germany: Ruud Gullet & Marco van Basten score as the Netherlands beats Soviet Union, 2-0.
1991 — Nine-time champion Martina Navratilova survives a first-round scare from Elna Reinach to win her record 100th singles match at Wimbledon.
1994 — FIFA World Cup: 1,500th goal in Cup’d history scored by Caceres of Argentina.
1997 — NBA Draft: Wake Forest power forward Tim Duncan first pick by San Antonio Spurs.
1997 — NHL approves franchises in Nashville, Atlanta, Columbus, and Minnesota-St Paul.
1999 — San Antonio wins its first NBA championship, defeating the New York Knicks 78-77 in Game 5 of the Finals. The Spurs, keyed by finals MVP Tim Duncan’s 31 points, becomes the first former ABA team to win the championship.
2006 — Asafa Powell matches Wallace Spearmon’s world best in the 200 meters, winning the Jamaican national championships in 19.90 seconds.
2006 — Bernard Lagat becomes the first runner in the history of the U.S. track and field championships to sweep the 1,500 and 5,000 meters, after winning the shorter race.
2008 — NBA Draft: Oklahoma power forward Blake Griffin first pick by Los Angeles Clippers.
2013 — UCLA wins its first national championship in baseball with an 8-0 win over Mississippi State.
2014 — John Norwood’s home run in the top of the eighth inning gives Vanderbilt the lead, and the Commodores beat Virginia 3-2 for their first national championship.
2015 — NBA Draft: Kentucky center Karl-Anthony Towns first pick by Minnesota Timberwolves.
2017 — Jordan Spieth needs an extra hole and an amazing final shot to finish off a wire-to-wire victory in the Travelers Championship. The two-time major champion holes out from 60 feet for birdie from a greenside bunker on the first hole of a playoff with Daniel Berger at TPC River Highlands. The 23-year-old Texan joins Tiger Woods as the only PGA Tour players with 10 victories in the era since World War II.
2019 — NHL Draft: Barrie Colts (OHL) defenseman Aaron Ekblad first pick by Florida Panthers.
2020 — Liverpool FC clinches first EPL soccer title in 30 years with 7 games to spare as Chelsea beats second-placed Manchester City, 2-1 at Stamford Bridge.
2021 — Philadelphia Philles pitcher Aaron Nola ties Tom Seaver’s 51-Year old MLB record of ten consecutive strike outs in a 2-1 loss to the Mew York Mets.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time...
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com, and follow me on Twitter at @latimeshouston. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
Go beyond the scoreboard
Get the latest on L.A.'s teams in the daily Sports Report newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
