The “Mind the Game” podcast, which is co-hosted by Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James and former NBA sharpshooter JJ Redick, premiered in March. It has gotten rave reviews for being the rare podcast that doesn’t just talk basketball, but talks about it on a deep, tactical level.
However, critics have had some issues with it. With Redick apparently being the Lakers’ top head coaching candidate, some feel James has been angling in his usual passive-aggressive way to practically choose his next coach.
Even before the podcast premiered, Darvin Ham, who was then the Lakers’ head coach, was seemingly on the hot seat. ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith says that coaches around the league had a problem with the timing of the podcast given Ham’s situation at the time.
"Numerous coaches, Black coaches called me expressing how they took issue with that podcast taking place." – Stephen A. Smith on the timing of LeBron James-JJ Redick podcast. pic.twitter.com/XrLHO44mYn
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 17, 2024
Some in the national media felt the Lakers’ decision to fire Ham was hasty and that he should’ve been given more time to develop as a head coach. Ham had coached Los Angeles for two seasons, and he had never been a head coach before.
Prior to the Lakers hiring him two years ago, he had spent 11 seasons as an assistant, mostly under Mike Budenholzer on the Atlanta Hawks and Milwaukee Bucks.