One player who, in a low-key way, could help the Los Angeles Lakers this coming season in a supporting role is guard Gabe Vincent. They signed him to a three-year, $33 million contract last summer, but he missed most of the 2023-24 season with a knee ailment that required surgery.
During his four previous NBA seasons, he showed the ability to be a gritty backcourt defender, handle the ball on occasion and hit outside shots when needed. He played a key role in the Miami Heat’s unexpected run to the 2023 NBA Finals, which likely inflated his market value a bit.
During an interview with Sacramento-based Fox40, Vincent praised new Lakers head coach JJ Redick’s basketball intelligence (at 4:17).
“No, not really,” Vincent said when he was asked if he has a feel for how things will be with Redick. “But, a new coach, know him a little bit off the floor, great person, excited to see how the year goes. I think everyone is looking forward to camp. We’ve had a longer offseason and we’re ready to get back and compete.”
The Lakers already have a very high-IQ player in LeBron James. But if Redick, who has virtually no coaching experience of any kind, has one thing going in his favor, it’s his basketball acumen.
“… Yeah, very, very, very high IQ,” Vincent responded when asked to compare the basketball IQ of James and Redick. “I think LeBron is almost in a league of his own in many ways, but JJ’s IQ is very high. You saw that when he played, you’ve seen it when he’s doing the breakdowns at the media, day in and day out. He’s a savant of basketball as well.”
Over the last several weeks, fellow guard D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves have also made it clear that they think highly of their new bench leader.
Basketball fans got a glimpse of Redick’s basketball knowledge when he and James co-hosted the “Mind the Game” podcast. He may not have a championship-caliber roster in front of him, but he does have plenty of good players who could surprise some people around the league.