The Los Angeles Lakers have been determined to surround JJ Redick with an experienced coaching staff, and they accomplished that with two hires they made on Wednesday.
Former NBA head coaches Nate McMillan and Scott Brooks have been hired by the Lakers as assistant coaches, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports.
ESPN Sources: The Los Angeles Lakers are hiring Nate McMillan and Scott Brooks as top assistant coaches on JJ Redick’s new staff. Redick gets two longtime head coaches with a combined 1,189 victories to surround him. pic.twitter.com/zRtTNlroFp
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 3, 2024
Between them, McMillan and Brooks have three decades of head coaching experience in the NBA. McMillan, 59, was a head coach more recently than Brooks, as McMillan last coached the Atlanta Hawks during the 2022-23 season before being fired. Brooks, 58, was dismissed as head coach of the Washington Wizards following the 2020-21 season.
McMillan has an overall record of 760-668 as a head coach in the NBA. His teams — the Hawks, Indiana Pacers, Portland Trail Blazers and Seattle SuperSonics — were 28-48 in the postseason.
Brooks compiled a record of 521-414 across five seasons with Washington and seven seasons with the Oklahoma City Thunder. He has a 49-48 playoff record and led the Thunder to an NBA Finals appearance in 2012. Brooks was with the Blazers as an assistant the last three seasons.
The 40-year-old Redick does not have any experience coaching in the NBA as a head coach or assistant, which is why the Lakers wanted to be sure to assemble a veteran staff. While L.A. may have missed out on some of their top targets, McMillan and Brooks should be plenty useful to Redick.
