Stephen A. Smith makes bold JJ Redick, Lakers prediction

Even the people who were very skeptical about the Los Angeles Lakers hiring JJ Redick to be their head coach last June are starting to become impressed with the job he has done. He has navigated plenty of ups and downs, both on and off the court, as well as at least one reinvention of the team's roster and style of play to guide it to the third seed in the Western Conference.The Lakers are now legitimately in the discussion to win this season's NBA championship.

They will start their quest for basketball's grand prize on Saturday when they host the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series, and it will be the first time they have hosted Game 1 of a best-of-seven since 2012.ESPN's Stephen A. Smith seems so impressed with the job Redick has done that he boldly said on "NBA Countdown" the coach will someday win a world title (h/t Lakers Daily).



“I wanna say something — I don’t consider it bold at all: J.J. Redick is going to win himself a championship one day as a coach in the near future,” Smith said.

“I think he’s proven to be that exceptional and that locked in and that zeroed in. It might not be this year, but with Luka [Doncic] and LeBron [James], I can’t summarily dismiss them against anybody outside of OKC.”Redick was regarded as a brilliant basketball tactician before he ever coached his first game with the Lakers.

However, he had no coaching experience whatsoever, other than helping to coach his son's youth basketball team.But he has built a culture that is based on attention to detail and hard work, and it has paid off so far. While L.

A. lost a handful of games this season it probably should've won, it also stole a few games against more talented opponents thanks to shrewd game-planning from Redick, especially on the defensive end.While the team remains a work in progress offensively, it has played stretches of outstanding defense, and if that defense holds up, it could carry them very far in the postseason.

This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Stephen A. Smith makes bold JJ Redick, Lakers prediction.