NBA Rumor: ESPN’s JJ Redick Interviews At Toronto Raptors For Head Coach Job

JJ Redick, a 15-year NBA veteran and ESPN analyst, interviewed this week for the coaching position with the Toronto Raptors, sources informed ESPN on Wednesday.

Redick recently met with franchise leadership in Toronto, according to sources, and was a participant in a first round of interviews. Since his retirement as a player in 2021, he has been a target for numerous organizations, including the Boston Celtics, as an assistant coach.

NBA Rumor: ESPN’s JJ Redick Interviews At Toronto Raptors For Head Coach Job

Before beginning a 15-year NBA career that includes spells with the Magic, Bucks, Clippers, Sixers, Pelicans, and Mavericks, Redick shined for four years at Duke. In 2021, Redick made his final NBA appearance.

He has been an analyst and a podcaster for ESPN since the beginning of time.

According to insiders, Redick is one of more than a dozen prospects who have spoken with the Raptors as part of a thorough recruitment process. According to a recent ESPN report, Toronto was given permission to interview a number of candidates, including Kenny Atkinson of Golden State, Charles Lee of Milwaukee, Kevin Young of Phoenix, Mitch Johnson of San Antonio, Jordi Fernandez of Sacramento, Darko Rajakovic of Memphis, and Becky Hammon of the Las Vegas Aces.

It’s ironic since several coaches told me during my career that I would coach once I retired,” Redick remarked.

“Or they would try to. Rick [Carlisle] was like this in Dallas. He was like, ‘You should coach. You would love it.’ I was there two half months, and I spent a ton of time with Rick. He was so good to me. Doc [Rivers] would always tell me that. I’m like, ‘Doc, there’s no f–king way I’m gonna coach.’

“And then, last spring, I just started thinking: Maybe I do want to coach. I always thought if I did something in basketball, it would be front office because I like the intellectual component of that. And I like the idea of not only managing people, but other people managing me. The collaboration component of a front office.”

Redick further disclosed that he has been pursued for various assistant coaching positions.

“Then I got randomly four unsolicited, ‘Do you want to coach? Do you want to join the staff?’ [messages] from different teams. And truthfully, I considered two of them. Not just the Celtics — sorry, I considered another one,” Redick said.

On April 21, Toronto fired head coach Nick Nurse. Before falling to the Chicago Bulls in the 9 vs. 10 game of the Eastern Conference play-in round, the Raptors concluded their season with a 41-41 record.

 

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