Lakers Sign Coach JJ Redick to Contract Extension Ahead of 2025-26 Season

Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick has received a contract extension ahead of his second season with the team, general manager Rob Pelinka announced Thursday.

JJ Redick Reportedly Signed Multi-Year Extension With Lakers

Although terms of the new deal were not announced, sources told ESPN’s Shams Charania that it was a multi-year extension. Redick signed a four-year, $32 million deal with the Lakers in June 2024.

“Just to make it clear that he’s the basketball leader in terms of our coaching and on-court performance,” Pelinka said about Redick after the Lakers went 50-32 (.610) and secured the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference last season.

According to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, Pelinka said the decision came down to “confidence and belief” in the former NBA guard, despite some viewing Redick as a questionable hire since he had no prior coaching experience.

Redick, 41, spent 15 seasons with six teams as a player before retiring after the 2020-21 campaign, then worked as an ESPN analyst prior to joining the Lakers.

“We think he’s a special coach with a special voice that’s really helping us define the culture of Lakers excellence,” Pelinka said. “We just wanted to make a clear statement that this is what we believe in, what we’re going to lean into and what our players are going to mold into as we continue to develop the identity. I think having long-term planning is helpful as we build this team and go forward.”

Luka Doncic Signed Max Contract Extension

Redick’s new deal comes after superstar Luka Doncic signed a three-year, $165 million maximum contract extension that runs through 2028, with a player option for 2029-30.

Per Bobby Marks, Doncic could opt out of his three-year contract in 2028 and sign a new deal for 35% of the salary cap, which projects to five years and $417 million.

In doing so, Doncic would recoup all the money lost when he was traded by the Dallas Mavericks, with whom he had been eligible to sign a five-year, $315 million supermax extension this summer.

Future Hall of Famer LeBron James also exercised his $52.62 million player option for 2025-26. This is part of the two-year, $101.36 million contract he signed last July.

Because James is on an expiring deal, his future with the Purple and Gold is uncertain.

Redick expressed gratitude to Pelinka, Lakers acting governor Jeanie Buss, and new Lakers owner Mark Walter for trusting him with Doncic and James.

“It’s not lost on me, this sort of rarity of a first-time head coach getting an extension,” Redick said Thursday. “I recognize how fortunate I am to be in an organization that supports me in that way.”

The extension reflects the confidence and belief in Redick’s abilities as a coach.