Sports
Steve Kerr and Doc Rivers talk about what JJ Redick might face if he coaches Lakers
On Sept. 30, 2014, Steve Kerr presided over his first practice as the head coach of an NBA team. Kerr was now the man in charge of the Golden State Warriors, a job he took without the benefit of any previous coaching experience.
Kerr looked out before him and saw the faces of stars Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green staring back at him, waiting for the newbie to put his coaching plan in place on that initial day.
“It was a little bit of a s— show, to be honest. I had these plans with the coaching staff beforehand, but it was like the first day of school, only I was a brand new teacher,” Kerr, laughing, recalled about his first day coaching the Warriors. “You have to get through the bumps in the road and iron things out. But I remember the first two days were a little chaotic. I was trying to do a lot of things. I quickly realized that you don’t have nearly as enough time as you thought you would to address every issue. And that’s a big part of it.”
If JJ Redick gets the Lakers’ head coaching job that seems destined to become his, according to people not authorized to speak publicly on the matter, having the right staff will be beneficial since he has no coaching experience.
Kerr won five NBA championships as a player. He became a minority owner of the Suns upon retiring, then the president of basketball operations and general manager of the team. He left that post and to join TNT as an analyst until leaving that job in 2014 to become coach of the Warriors.
What he quickly learned during the early practice sessions and in games throughout his maiden voyage as a coach was to lean on his highly capable and experienced staff.
Kerr turned to former coach Alvin Gentry and Ron Adams, considered the savant of assistant coaches at the time in the NBA, for advice.
“I was lucky I had Ron Adams and Alvin Gentry with me. Although I shouldn’t call it luck. I purposely hired them because I knew I would need their expertise,” said Kerr, who won the first of his four NBA championships in that rookie season. “And they were great, they were fantastic and helped me through that transition process.”
The Times spoke to five former players who became head coaches without having been on the bench in that role and each was adamant the sage assistants are important to have for guidance.
Redick, who played 15 seasons in the NBA, is an analyst for ABC/ESPN and has his “Mind the Game” podcast with Lakers superstar LeBron James.
“If JJ does get the job, JJ has been out of the game for a few years and had an opportunity to be around guys in other settings,” said Derek Fisher, the Crespi High coach who won five NBA titles with the Lakers before he became a first-time coach with the New York Knicks in 2014.
“Like, he has a podcast with LeBron. That didn’t necessarily exist when I was making that transition. But it’s a good example of how different that is for even a guy that may not have previous experience coaching. It’s really the relationships with players that drive your success to a large degree anyway. So, if you’re in a position where you have that to lean on, it does help cushion the experience part. That’s something that the collection of individuals on the staff can help offset the lack of coaching experience.”
The pull to become a coach for Doc Rivers came after 13 years in the NBA as a player and three years working for TNT after his retirement, calls from legendary coaches Pat Riley and Chuck Daly sparking his interest.
Doc Rivers said he made sure when he took his first head coaching job that he hired two former NBA coaches as his assistants.
(Darron Cummings / Associated Press)
So Rivers, currently the coach of Milwaukee, took the job with the Orlando Magic in 1999 without any experience. But he had former head coaches Dave Wohl and Johnny Davis by his side.
Rivers recalled how a few games into his first season he wanted to change his offense.
Wohl and Davis told Rivers that “you can’t do that,” because they had installed a new offense in training camp.
Still, Rivers was insistent.
“I said, ‘Yeah, I’m going to do it.’ And they were all against it, and I did it,” said Rivers, who was selected coach of the year in his first season. “It changed our team because it fit what we were. It took guts. So, that taught me a lot. You are going to be wrong sometimes, but you got to be willingly wrong and you got to be willing to take chances. I thought that was the biggest lesson that year.”
Mark Jackson was a point guard in the NBA for 17 seasons before he joined ESPN as an analyst. Yet, Jackson yearned to be an NBA coach, figuring his time as a point guard made him a coach on the court that would translate even if he lacked any experience on the bench.
“I wouldn’t say learn as you go along,” said Jackson, who took over the Warriors in 2011. “There are certain things that you have to learn that you didn’t do as a player. Now you’re making the decisions, decisions that you never thought about making like, ‘Do we stay overnight? Do we leave after the game? What time is practice? How long do we practice?’ I was fortunate to have good people around me, as far as my staff, particularly Mike Malone and Pete Myers, guys that had been assistants for a long time. They made life easier for me.”
Warriors head coach Mark Jackson, hugging guard Stephen Curry after he was taken out of playoff game against the Clippers, said becoming an NBA coach with no experience brings many decisions you never thought about aside from games.
(Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)
When Vinny Del Negro became a first-time coach with the Chicago Bulls in 2008, he hired former head coaches Del Harris and Bernie Bickerstaff to show him the ins and outs of being the man in charge.
Del Negro also took another approach to help in his learning curve.
“When I got the Chicago job, I went and coached the team in the summer league,” he said. “I just jumped right in. I needed that. Everyday you do it, every game, you get a little bit more comfortable and you understand things a little bit better and you’re learning your players, and you know things you can do better every game. That’s what you are doing on a daily basis.”
As he began to think about coaching, Kerr said he spent years preparing how to interview for jobs and what kind of coaching philosophy he wanted to develop.
Kerr said some of the best advice he got about becoming a coach was from Jeff Van Gundy, a former Knicks and Rockets coach.
“I asked his advice and I said, ‘If you were me and just getting started and wanted to prepare for an interview and prepare to become a coach, what would you do?’” Kerr said. “And he said, ‘Everytime you stop and think about what kind of coach you want to be, write it down. Whatever you are thinking, write it down.
“Before long, you are going to collect your thoughts, you’re going to have them on paper, you’re going to be able to look at them and think about them and adapt them and put together a philosophy that you can present to somebody.’ And it was the best advice anybody gave me.”
How much would you pay for a pair of shoes? Someone else’s shoes, I mean.
Would you pay $7,000 for a chair on which Taylor Swift sat in a basketball arena — for an NBA playoff game, not for her wedding? Someone did.
There was one Swift chair up for bid. The Dodgers gave away 52,000 trading cards as part of a promotion for the Japanese animated series “One Piece” this month, and the current asking prices for one of those cards on eBay range from $784 to $15,656. Even at the low end … strike that, there is no apparent low end to the collectibles market these days.
Now add Shohei Ohtani to the mix. A pair of his cleats hit the auction block Monday, hyped by the promoter as “one of the most significant baseball artifacts ever” and “the greatest baseball footwear ever made available” and “the most culturally significant footwear ever worn on Japanese soil.”
In this case, the adjectives are more than breathless. Ohtani is the best player in baseball, the favorite to win his fifth most valuable player award in six years, an international tourist attraction, and a global pitchman making an estimated $125 million in sponsorships and endorsements this year.
So, the footwear: These are the cleats Ohtani wore when the Dodgers opened the 2025 season in Japan, decorated with art of his world-famous dog Decoy and signed by Ohtani with Asian kanji characters rather than English letters.
The cleats were purchased last year by Take to the Universe (TTU), a Japanese company that distributes beauty and wellness products in Japan and throughout Asia. State records show the company registered a subsidiary in Los Angeles two months ago.
The cleats Shohei Ohtani wore during the Dodgers’ 2025 season opener in Japan are on the auction block.
(The Realist)
“We thought, hey, we could actually use this to market our company and enter into the U.S. market,” said Ryoji Iguchi, chief executive of the subsidiary. Iguchi declined to say how much TTU paid for the cleats.
For a Japanese company to leverage Ohtani and the Dodgers to introduce itself to an American audience is nothing new — not just for tangible consumer goods, but also for animated characters.
You wouldn’t actually go into a store and ask for a TTU product, though. You eventually might go into a store and ask for a beauty product made by another company. TTU would just get it there.
So how does selling a pair of cleats create brand awareness for a brand consumers would not even know?
“This interview,” Iguchi said.
The Ohtani Economy strikes again: You don’t know us, but we’re coming to America, we want to help you sell your wares — and we’re selling Ohtani’s cleats!
The sale was arranged by Scott Keeney, founder of the Realest, a Los Angeles-based enterprise specializing in sports and entertainment memorabilia.
The cleats Shohei Ohtani wore during the Dodgers’ season opener in Japan in 2025 are on the auction block.
(The Realist)
Keeney talks about the “museum-grade” and “investment-grade” quality of the cleats. You might find a trading card marketed as one of one, but someone could make another. In this case, no one can make another pair of cleats worn by Ohtani on that particular day.
“It’s no different than art, where you’re seeing paintings selling for tens, hundreds of millions of dollars,” Keeney said. “The top grails are in a category of their own.
“It’s what the ultra, the top 0.0001% want, and they appreciate faster than anything else in the category.”
So how much might the Ohtani cleats command, given the combination of sport and celebrity?
Kobe Bryant’s sneakers from the game in which he tore his Achilles tendon — and hit two free throws before he left the court — fetched $660,000. Michael Jordan’s “Flu Game” shoes sold for $1.4 million. Kanye West wore “Air Yeezys” to the Grammys, and the pair sold for $1.8 million.
The ball Ohtani hit for his 50th home run in his 50-50 season: $4.4 million. And, speaking of holy grails: Judy Garland’s ruby slippers from “The Wizard of Oz” fetched $32.5 million.
I cannot afford that, in this lifetime or any other. Perhaps you can. If you cannot, the Realest is offering this free-to-enter contest: Guess the sale price of the Ohtani cleats and, if you come closest to the actual sale price, you win 1% of the price. In the event of a tie, the first submission wins.
The cash would be nice, because this is just a pair of someone else’s worn shoes. But, since everything else Ohtani does seems to be unprecedented, this auction just might be too.
Sports
Stefon Diggs, still seeking new NFL home, insists no team has a better No 2 receiver ‘than me’
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Stefon Diggs is still looking for his next NFL team after one season with the New England Patriots, which ended in a Super Bowl LX defeat.
With NFL training camps across the country set to kick off at the end of the month, Diggs, who will be entering his 12th season, made quite the statement during a recent YouTube video on his channel.
Diggs stated that he is the best No. 2 receiver in the league, and he explained why.
New England Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs (8) walks to the podium to speak to the media after a minicamp held in the WIN Field House at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, on June 10, 2025. (Eric Canha/Imagn Images)
“Everybody got a 1,,” he said. “Opportunities aside, people might say there’s seven real 1s. In my opinion, I can compete with anybody, but take those as your 1s. You can’t name a No. 2 better than me. There’s not a No. 2 on a team. Let’s presumably give people the credit and just say, ‘OK, you want to take the No. 1 spot away.’ Name your No. 2 receiver right now. Tell me how much he makes. My last question is: Is he better than me?”
Diggs put up 1,013 yards in his 11th season, his first and only with the Patriots, on 85 receptions (102 targets) with four touchdowns from breakout star quarterback Drake Maye . It marked Diggs’ seventh 1,000-yard season in the NFL, which have come in seven of the last eight seasons.
ODELL BECKHAM TOLD GIANTS COACH HE’S READY TO ‘GO OUT ON MY SWORD’ TO EARN ROSTER SPOT
The 32-year-old did note being a No. 2 option, which means he could be willing to take a pay cut to join a squad that he could help get back to the playoffs and, as ever player hopes, the Super Bowl. But no team has pulled the trigger just yet.
Could Diggs’ off-the-field issues be a factor? He faced some serious allegations in December after being charged with felony strangulation and misdemeanor assault in a dispute with his private chef.
New England Patriots receiver Stefon Diggs speaks during his introductory press conference on March 28, 2025. (John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
However, Diggs was found not guilty by a jury, with the NFL closing its review on the matter, stating there was insufficient evidence to warrant a suspension for violating its personal conduct policy. Diggs’ attorney said that “professional athletes have a target on their back” following the non-guilty verdict.
“We have taken these allegations seriously from Day One and that’s exactly why we were eager for the facts to come to light through the legal process,” Mitch Schuster of Meister, Seelig & Schuster, the firm that represented Diggs, said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital in May.
The Patriots released Diggs in March, but he has been staying in shape and looking for the next opportunity since the league cleared him last month.
New England Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs plays against the Seattle Seahawks during Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Feb. 8, 2026. (Mark J. Rebilas/Imagn Images)
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Teams to watch could be the Los Angeles Chargers, New York Giants, Washington Commanders, Kansas City Chiefs, or even a Buffalo Bills reunion with Josh Allen, who built such a rapport with him to earn four straight Pro Bowls from 2020-23.
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Sports
Dodgers swept by Diamondbacks in first winless series of season as they stagger into All-Star break
The Dodgers needed to turn things around Sunday to wrap up the first half on a high note. Manager Dave Roberts said as much the night before.
“When you give teams free bases, extra outs, it’s hard to win a game, regardless of the opponent,” he said. “Emmet [Sheehan] needs to go out there and throw the baseball well tomorrow. We’ve got to find a way to win a game tomorrow to feel somewhat better about going into the break.”
Instead, the Dodgers fell to the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-3, swept for the first time this season. It was Arizona’s first sweep at Dodger Stadium since September 2017.
Perhaps the break is coming at a good time.
“I guess,” Roberts said. “Gives guys a reset. … We’ve got some good teams coming up and we’ve got to play good baseball.”
Sheehan at least did his job, holding the Diamondbacks to three runs in 5⅓ innings. It was clear from the first at-bat that his pitch count could limit how deep he pitched into the game. Sheehan won a 14-pitch battle to strike out Ketel Marte.
The right-hander then struck out the side and was efficient enough to pitch into the sixth. He exited after his pitch count reached 101.
Max Muncy swings at a pitch in the seventh inning.
(Ronaldo Bolaños / Los Angeles Times)
Shohei Ohtani sparked the offense with his ninth leadoff home run of the season — and 22nd overall — on a two-hit day. But he’ll get treatment this week instead of playing in the All-Star Game.
It wasn’t a clean defensive game for the Dodgers. In the midst of the Diamondbacks’ two-run fifth, All-Star center fielder Andy Pages tracked a long fly back to the wall but missed the catch as the ball bounced off his glove for an error.
In the sixth, the tying run scored when All-Star third baseman Max Muncy’s throw to the plate hit Geraldo Perdomo in the back as he ran home for another error.
“Just a slump,” Muncy said. “You go through slumps both offensively and defensively, mentally. It’s just one of those stretches for us right now, and I think everyone’s ready for the break.”
Regardless of some sloppiness, the Dodgers have had a successful season going into the break.
“Just flush it,” Roberts said. “We’re still in a really good spot. Don’t let it carry over to the second half.”
They have the best record in the majors (61-36) and an 11½-game lead in the National League West. They also had six players selected as All-Stars.
So, as Major League Baseball pauses play and honors some of the best performers in each league, now’s a good time to hand out our first-half awards.
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