JJ Redick continues to stay hungry even after getting back-to-back 50-win seasons

Feb 10, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) is greeted by head coach JJ Redick during a time out against the Utah Jazz at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Lakers are back in the Playoffs as a 50-win team for the second year in a row. This is an impressive run for the Lakers led by head coach JJ Redick. He is only in his second season as a coach, and he continues to impress the rest of the league with how well he has adapted to his role.

This is a unique achievement for Redick, as he is the first head coach since the great Phil Jackson to win 50 games in two consecutive seasons. Jackson and Pat Riley were the last two coaches who achieved that, which goes to show how well Redick has done over the past two seasons.

Redick does not want to get carried away with regular-season success

During his playing career, Redick was a tremendous shooter. He was mostly a role player in the NBA, but he was still regarded as one of the great perimeter shooters. His stardom came earlier during his days at Duke, where he is remembered as an all-time great.

Despite retiring from the NBA, Redick remained in the basketball world as an analyst and podcaster. In fact, he was considered by many as one of the best in the business. However, when the Lakers came knocking, it was hard to ignore because he also showed interest in coaching.

MORE: LeBron James becomes the all-time leader in wins across the regular season and Playoffs

Now that he is two seasons into his coaching career, Redick already has 100+ regular-season wins under his belt. It is an impressive start to a promising coaching career, but he is not satisfied. He wants to keep winning, especially in the postseason.

"Don’t deserve to be mentioned along with Phil or Pat or any of those guys. I've got a lot left to accomplish for sure. I've had the same staff for the best part of both years; we are resilient and resolved," Redick said after the Lakers' 50th win of the 2025-26 season.

"Part of that is what I talked about pre-game, it's just not willing to quit on a problem that seems unsolvable. Just the resolve to win all the time, we got competitive guys in the locker room, and I've got some in the coaching staff."

With this kind of fire in him, Redick will want to win with the Lakers. They have a good chance of surprising people this season, especially with the way Luka Doncic has been playing. Redick also has Austin Reaves and LeBron James, the latter of whom is still superb even at 41.

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