Former Sixer JJ Redick returns to coach first game here: ‘If you can play in Philly, you can coach the Lakers’
The last time Redick played at the Wells Fargo Center was in 2019. Now the former Sixers guard returns as the head coach of the Lakers
In December 2019, JJ Redick returned to the Wells Fargo Center as a visitor after signing with the New Orleans Pelicans. Not only was this the first time Redick played at the arena since leaving the Sixers in free agency, it was the last time he played there before retirement. On Tuesday, more than five years after that game, Redick reacclimated himself with the arena he once called home.
In his last performance at the Wells Fargo Center, the former shooting guard ended the night with 19 points in a 116-109 loss to the Sixers. This time around, Redick is on the opposite side of the baseline — not as a broadcaster, but coaching the Los Angeles Lakers.
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When asked what lessons he learned during his time in Philly that have helped him transition into coaching, Redick said: “If you can play in Philly, you can coach the Lakers.”
Before Redick retired and took over the coaching position in L.A., he played in the NBA for 15 seasons. He spent two of those with the Sixers (2017-19), where he was Philly’s leading three-point shooter (40.7%) and averaged 17.6 points under coach Brett Brown.
Brown was hired during the Sixers’ “Process” era, which included a lot of losing and roster changes. Despite the tough times, the Sixers eventually made three straight playoff runs under Brown’s tutelage — making it to the Eastern Conference semifinals twice before coming up short. Redick was part of two of those playoff runs, including a career year in 2019 before the Sixers fell to the Toronto Raptors in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals thanks to a Kawhi Leonard buzzer-beater.
Redick is ninth on the franchise’s all-time list for three-pointers made (433) despite playing just two seasons with the team and was a real fan favorite during his time in the city. The Lakers coach even admitted on an old episode of The Old Man and the Three podcast that the biggest regret in his career was leaving Philly.
“You can’t change an outcome because an outcome is out of your control,” Redick said. “So you can change a decision. I wish there was a way I could have gone back to Philly.”
Redick’s first game as a head coach at the Wells Fargo Center comes at a tough time for the Sixers. Philly is 17-27, preparing for a six-game homestand and sitting a game and a half behind the Chicago Bulls for the final play-in spot in the Eastern Conference.