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It was one week into his new job as coach of the Los Angeles Lakers when JJ Redick had a sudden rush of horror. He had just hired his first two assistant coaches, and he couldn’t have been more pleased. Nate McMillan had 19 years of NBA head-coaching experience. And Scott Brooks spent 12 years as an NBA head coach. Both played point guard in the NBA, McMillan for 12 seasons and Brooks for 10. They had a combined 1,281 wins as coaches.
Before Redick had watched the video, he had scheduled a video call with McMillan and Brooks for the next day. He planned to talk plays, philosophy and ask the veteran coaches how they would map out training camp. Now, knowing what he knew about their past, he felt he needed a different opening to the meeting.
The two were backups — McMillan to Gary Payton and Brooks to Kenny Smith — and they were beginning to face off more as the series evolved. Brooks’ minutes increased from nine and seven in the first two games to 21 minutes in Games 3 and 4. That meant Brooks and McMillan often going head-to-head.
As Game 5 unfolded, McMillan and Brooks found themselves tangled and locked up with each other on several occasions. In the third quarter, McMillan drove left and tried to lose Brooks on a screen by teammate Derrick McKey. Brooks bounced off McKey and immediately re-engaged with McMillan, touching and bumping him along the way.
When Redick was hired in June, the extent of his sideline experience was coaching his son’s third-grade team in Brooklyn. As a result, Redick said he and Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka wanted to hire two former head coaches to assist him.
McMillan, who last coached the Atlanta Hawks in 2023, said the offer to join Redick’s staff was too good to turn down. He said he knew he was done with head coaching after being fired by the Hawks, but the chance to coach LeBron James and Anthony Davis, and to not have to deal with the headaches of being a head coach appealed to him.
One of the first pieces of advice McMillan offered involved James, one of the game’s biggest superstars. He implored Redick to hold firm and believe in his system, believe in his coaching, even if James pushes back.
McMillan said Redick has been exceptional in the way he has delivered his message to the Lakers. He said it’s like watching one of the game’s Redick called when he was an announcer for ESPN.
And somewhere down the line this season, Redick says he will hold a special film session with the team. It will be the clip from Game 5 of the 1993 playoffs, when two assistants on the Lakers bench went head-to-head … and beyond.
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