After 1½ months of searching, including a couple of twists, the Lakers have found their new head coach – a former player-turned-broadcaster who doesn’t have any previous head coaching experience.

The Lakers will hire JJ Redick as their new head coach, which was first reported by ESPN on Thursday, adding that Redick agreed to a four-year deal.

The 39-year-old former Duke star and 15-year NBA veteran will be the franchise’s seventh full-time head coach in 13 years (eighth including Bernie Bickerstaff’s five-game stint as interim coach in 2013) and 29th overall.

With the hiring of Redick, the Lakers are hoping to accomplish two things: build off the last two seasons when they made the playoffs, including the 2023 Western Conference finals, in what’s expected to be the final couple of seasons of the LeBron James-Anthony Davis era; and have a coach in place who can have a development-focused approach in the post-James era.

ESPN reported last week that Redick had the opportunity to “move him to the forefront” of the Lakers’ coaching search with a strong interview performance on Saturday.

That’s exactly what happened, and now the Lakers have their new coach.

The Lakers’ hiring of Redick came after the organization’s failed pursuit of UConn men’s coach Dan Hurley, who turned down the Lakers’ six-year, $70 million offer and returned to the Huskies. Redick was considered the frontrunner for the Lakers’ job before their pursuit of Hurley became public.

The Lakers hoped to hire a coach before the NBA’s June 26-27 draft. Redick met with Lakers VP and GM Rob Pelinka last month at the draft combine in Chicago before the more formal and thorough interview with Pelinka and Lakers governor Jeanie Buss last weekend.

Redick was a color commentator for ABC’s broadcast of the NBA Finals between the Celtics and the Dallas Mavericks.

Redick, who played in the NBA for 15 seasons (four with the Clippers) and retired in 2021, has no professional or college coaching experience, never coaching above the youth level.

But he has interviewed for multiple head-coaching vacancies recently: the Toronto Raptors’ last offseason, which went to Darko Rajaković, and the Charlotte Hornets this spring, with Boston lead assistant Charles Lee set to join the Hornets after the conclusion of the Celtics’ playoff run.

Redick became an analyst/broadcaster for ESPN immediately after retirement and has hosted podcasts since 2016, including, “The Old Man and the Three” which is part of the ThreeFourTwo Productions company he co-founded.

Notably, Redick has also been co-hosting a podcast, “Mind the Game”, with Lakers star LeBron James since March.
Even with the messaging being that the Lakers had long-term goals with this coaching hire, Redick will face immediate pressure to win. Former coach Darvin Ham lasted just two seasons despite leading the Lakers to the playoffs in back-to-back years: a conference finals appearance last year and a first-round exit against the Denver Nuggets earlier in the spring.

Redick will inherit a roster that could resemble the one that went 47-35 in 2023-24. Seven players from last year’s team have guaranteed deals for 2024-25, not including big man Christian Wood, who’s reportedly already opted into his player option for next season. James, D’Angelo Russell, Jaxson Hayes and Cam Reddish also have a June 29 deadline for their player options.

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A NON-WHAT TOKEN? In economics jargon, a fungible token is an asset that can be exchanged on a one-for-one basis. Think of dollars or bitcoins — each one has the exact same value and can be traded freely.

A non-fungible object, by contrast, has its own distinct value, like an old house or a classic car. Cross this notion with cryptocurrency technology known as the blockchain and you get NFTs. These are effectively digital certificates of authenticity that can be attached to digital art or, well, pretty much anything else that comes in digital form — audio files, video clips, animated stickers, this article you’re reading. NFTs confirm an item’s ownership by recording the details on a digital ledger known as a blockchain, which is public and stored on computers across the internet, making it effectively impossible to lose or destroy. At the moment, these tokens are white-hot in the collecting world, where they’re being used to solve a problem central to digital collectibles: how to claim ownership of something that can be easily and endlessly duplicated.

I STILL DON’T GET IT. CAN’T ANYONE JUST COPY DIGITAL STUFF OFF THE INTERNET? Sure, anyone can download a copy of Beeple’s art from his social media feed, print it out, and hang it on the wall. Just like you can take a photo of the Mona Lisa in the Louvre or buy a print from the museum gift shop. But that doesn’t mean you own those original artworks. One purpose of NFTs is that they can be used to trace an object’s digital provenance, allowing a select few to prove ownership.

In the broader picture, it’s a way to create scarcity — albeit artificial — so that you can sell something for higher prices thanks to its scarcity. “All the time, money and effort you spend in your digital life, you can create value for that,” said Chicago fund manager Andrew Steinwold, who started an NFT fund in 2019. “You have property rights in the physical world. Why don’t we have property rights in the digital world?” Some NFT issuers give full copyrights to the buyer, though others do not.

SO WHAT’S A BEEPLE? Beeple is an American digital artist based in South Carolina whose real name is Mike Winkelmann. He’s been creating digital sketches using 3D tools on a daily basis for the past 13 years. Auction house Christie’s calls his work “abstract, fantastical, grotesque or absurd.” He has 1.9 million followers on Instagram. In December, the first extensive auction of his art brought in $3.5 million, an eye-catching amount that was surpassed by this week’s record-shattering sale of his collage “Everydays: The First 5,000 Days” for nearly $70 million, paid in a digital currency known as Ethereum.

SO WHO ELSE IS SELLING NFTs? William Shatner of “Star Trek” fame sold 90,000 virtual trading cards last year for $1 each. Electronic musician Grimes sold $6 million worth of her digital art last month, including a video clip featuring winged cherubs floating in pastel dreamscapes that went for $389,000. Clips of NBA star LeBron James dunking are selling for as much as $225,000. Actress Lindsey Lohan sold an image of her face. You can also buy virtual land in video games and meme characters like Nyan Cat. Digital artist Anne Spalter started out as an NFT skeptic but has now sold multiple artworks using the tokens.

The latest was a video called “Dark Castles” — of mysteriously distorted castles generated by artificial intelligence technology – that sold for $2,752. “NFTs have opened up art to a whole bunch of people who never would have gone to a gallery in New York,” said Spalter, who pioneered digital fine arts courses at Brown University and the Rhode Island School of Design in the 1990s. “They’re investors, they’re tech entrepreneurs, they’re in that world.”

BUT WHO WOULD SPEND $70 MILLION ON ONE? Christie’s on Friday identified the buyer of Beeple’s work as the financer of a digital art fund who goes by the pseudonym Metakovan, an announcement that could fuel concerns of a bubble in the cryptocurrency art market. The buyer founded Metapurse, described as the world’s largest NFT fund, which is likely to benefit from the heightened attention. The British auction house said the purchase makes Beeple’s piece the third-most valuable artwork ever sold by a living artist, behind works by Jeff Koons and David Hockney.

Spalter said she expects this bubble to pop, though she still believes NFTs hold promise for artists as a way to reduce fraud and misattribution of works. “I’m still mystified by the prices and how high they are,” she said. “I think there will be a correction.” —- AP technology writer Matt O’Brien contributed to this report from Providence, Rhode Island. For all of AP’s tech coverage, visit https://apnews.com/apf-technology

KELVIN CHAN • AP News

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(Ethan Saenz)

Ethan Saenz, a local middle schooler (just started sixth grade at Dartmouth) was named to the Junior Drew League All-Star team and competed this past weekend against the best basketball players in California (in his age bracket.) What is the Drew League? The Drew League is a summer invitational basketball tournament sponsored by Nike. The competition is intense there, NBA players play in the league occasionally with former Division One basketball players, Streetball Legends, and amateurs hoping to make a name for themselves. It isn’t just your random league. This year included players like Lamelo Ball and Nick Young. In the past, Kobe Bryant, James Harden, and Kevin Durant used the Drew League to help train in the offseason. 

To go along with the Drew League, Nike hosts a four-week basketball skills camp called the Junior Drew League. Here players are taught shooting, passing, and dribbling techniques as well as how to play as a team, but they are also evaluated during the camp and at the end, the best players are selected to be a part of the All-Star team that plays before the Championship game of the adult league. 

Ethan Saenz put Hemet on his back, and proved that there is just as much talent out here as there is in Los Angeles, turning ankles with his impressive ball-handling and breaking necks with his fancy passes. Throughout the camp, he impressed coaches and became a sure-fire pick to the All-Star team. The All-Star game is tricky because the chemistry isn’t there, so teams don’t play to their full potential, but just days before the All-Star game Ethan Saenz banked in 40 points in a Travel ball tournament. 

Ethan plays basketball for Obsessed Basketball out of Moreno Valley. He is the point guard on the 11u (eleven and under) team. His coach is Ulande Washington out of Moreno Valley and has been coaching basketball for eight years. Ulande’s main goal is to help kids get through high school and into college by teaching them hard work, dedication, and commitment. He preaches to his athletes that education is just as important as sports and helps them be the best they can in both. He coaches kids from six years old all the way up to high school athletes and can be reached on Instagram at ObsessedHoops. Ethan has been with Obsessed basketball for two years but has been hooping since he was four years old. He comes from a big family but is being raised by a single mother who is his biggest fan and supporter. His best friend is his teammate/little brother Cameron Saenz, the two are constantly together, and you can always see them playing one on one at the courts. 

Ethan spends his free time playing Fortnite, but basketball is where his true passion is at. He hopes to impress scouts enough to earn himself a Full-Ride Scholarship and will continue to play basketball until he physically can’t anymore. Follow Ethan on Instagram at Emoney07_ to watch his journey to the NBA as its happening. Be one of the first to jump on his hype train and show some support for one of our community youths who is making waves amongst the competition.

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(Big Joe Burton)

Former West-Valley Mustang finds a new home in France, previously Burton said he was waiting for a new contract offer, and the news had been quiet. He was confident that he would continue to play basketball overseas but was patiently waiting for his next opportunity. Joseph Burton played his college basketball at Oregon State and has spent the last few years traveling across Europe and Asia playing basketball and dominating the competition. We now know where he will be playing basketball for at least the next season, and that will be in France as the center of the Chorale Roanne basketball club. Chorale Roanne is a part of the LNB Pro A division and plays at the Halle Andre Vacheresse arena which holds over 5,000 seats. The club won two championships in its history one in 1959 and the other in 2007, it’s been 13 years since they have tasted the gold and the club hopes bringing Burton on board brings them a dominant force down low to anchor their team. 

Joseph Burton joins four other Americans on the roster and six french natives. The head coach is Laurent Pluvy; not much information is known about him. It looks like Joseph Burton will be competing with Johndre Jefferson, a former University of South Carolina center. Johndre has been playing basketball overseas for about seven years after not being drafted to the NBA in 2012. Joseph and Johndre may compete for the starting job unless the coach wants to play big and let Burton play the Power-Forward and Jefferson play center. There is also Ferdinand Prenom on the roster who plays center as well. Ferdinand Prenom is a French native who has been playing professional ball since 2008. He also went undrafted in 2013. The three of them make up the three-headed monster defending the key for Chorale Roanne Basketball Club this upcoming season.

This is an excellent opportunity for Joseph, who wants to continue his playing career for as long as possible. He will be missing his wife and kids, while he is away but he is doing it for them. Usually, they will travel with him, but since this is a new place and his wife is ready to have their next baby any day it is best that they stay home while Burton goes overseas.

Burton is easily one of the most successful athletes that have come out of the valley and continues to represent the San Jacinto Valley/his Tribe as he travels the world playing basketball. Joseph spent most of the offseason working out and staying in shape, even putting in work at the local La Fitness courts. Follow Chorale Roanne on Facebook or Joseph Burton for updates on how his season is coming along.

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