Redick has hosted several successful shows on a variety of platforms (The Vertical, The Ringer, Yahoo Sports), before he created his own media company in 2020 and launched the “Old Man and a Three” Podcast, which he quickly took to the moon, before being hired as head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers in 2024.

The now repurposed “Young Man and a Three” podcast is still putting out regular episodes and currently has 1.1 million subscribers on YouTube. But just in case you forgot about all of JJ Redick’s previous career experience, Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch is happy to remind you

Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch goes after Lakers JJ Redick on Zach Lowe Show

He did just that Thursday night, when (speaking of podcasts) he made an appearance on the Zach Lowe Show, which the longtime NBA insider was hosting live from Minneapolis.

Lowe’s show last night had a bunch of local guests, including Timberwolves guard Donte DiVincenzo, The Athletic beat writer Jon Krawczynski, and the star of Thursday’s show, Finchy.

And pretty much immediately after taking the stage, Minnesota’s head coach went after JJ Redick. As he sat down, Lowe and Finchy started a friendly back and forth about the former’s recent time off. That quickly turned into a joke on Lowe about how, as a retired podcaster, he is now qualified to coach the Lakers.

Chris Finch shares his thoughts on podcasting:

“I mean… it will qualify you to coach the Lakers.” 💀

(via @ZachLowe_NBA) pic.twitter.com/toSIF7SmEs

— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) November 14, 2025

Lowe: “My wife was worried about me. She’s like, ‘You’re such a workaholic. What are you going to do?’ I was like, “Watch how amazing I am at doing nothing.’ It was great.”

Finch: “I bet three-quarters of these people are going to go home and do a podcast tonight.”

Lowe: “You’re going with the anti-media tropes right out of the gate?”

Finch: “Well, it will qualify to coach the Lakers, you know…”

Zach Lowe Show – 11/13/2025

Related: Karl-Anthony Towns Still Misses Minnesota; Still Stunned by Trade

Chris Finch has been coaching the Minnesota Timberwolves (currently 7-4) for parts of six NBA seasons already. The 56-year-old Pennsylvanian was hired exactly halfway through the 2020-21 NBA season, under circumstances that were far from ideal.

But all he has done in the four-plus seasons since taking the job is go 216-164 (.568), appear in four-straight playoffs and two straight Western Conference Finals, easily implanting himself as the most successful head coach in MN Timberwolves history.

MN Timberwolves HC & Lakers HC have a history

Now, context is king and it’s important to mention, given how divisive the above comments could come off, without it. See, Chris Finch and JJ Redick have a history that goes far beyond the Minnesota Timberwolves vs Los Angeles Lakers playoff matchup last summer.

JJ Redick played for Chris Finch when the two crossed paths in New Orleans back in 2019-2020, during the twilight of Redick’s playing career, and right before Finchy was hired as Wolves head coach.

Since then, the two friends have made it very clear how much respect they have for one another, meaning Finch’s jab at Redick was likely an inside job, between two friends, and not something that will fuel a future rivalry between the Wolves and Lakers.

“[Coaching JJ Redick] was an absolute pleasure…But it was interesting to coach JJ because I learned a lot from him. I never coached the shooter at that level and then just [seeing how teams] guarded him so differently than even a lot of really good shooters.

So he imparted a lot of tricks of the trade, things that he needed that he had seen through his career. So it’s like anything else, you always learned from really good players. So, not surprised that he’s had success. He’s got a very sharp basketball mind, relates to people extremely well. He’s super competitive. He has all the DNA.”

Chris Finch on JJ Redick – The Orange County Register (April 19, 2025)

@infanitytelevision JJ Redick discussed his relationship with Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch #lakers #jjredick #lakersvstimberwolves #lakeshow #infanitytv #basketballgods ♬ original sound – InfanityTV.com

Plenty of Chris Finch vs JJ Redick in our future?

Having great players makes coaching a lot easier. And both Redick and Finch have enjoyed that luxury since their NBA head coaching careers began. For Chris Finch, he’s gotten to coach up the most talented player to ever put on a Minnesota Timberwolves jersey. Redick has had LeBron and now Luka.

No doubt about it, Anthony Edwards was already showing signs of his greatness back then, even if Karl-Anthony Towns was still the guy. But since Finchy has taken over, Edwards and his Wolves have flourished.

In the future, who knows what Ant and Finchy will do together. The hope is that they’ll end the 30-year curse currently hanging over the professional sports world in this town, and finally bring a men’s major-six title to a fanbase that hasn’t celebrated one since 1991.

To make that happen, however, they’ll have to go through a vaunted Western Conference that includes the likes of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s Thunder, Nikola Jokic’ Nuggets and Luka Doncic’ Lakers, a task that they have yet to fully master, as both Shai and Luka have knocked them out of the last two playoffs.

ANT EDWARDS EURO-STEPPING AND SLITHERING INTO THE PAINT 😮‍💨

📺 Timberwolves (3-1) Lakers on TNT pic.twitter.com/5CFsDQc9ht

— NBA (@NBA) May 1, 2025

Related: Kevin Love Knew Jazz Were Cooked Early vs Timberwolves

But for now, the Minnesota Timberwolves have the upper hand on Doncic, LeBron and JJ, whose Lakers they beat handily in last year’s playoffs. Even if the two are buddies, however, I bet Redick will be a little extra motivated to change that this postseason.

LeBron James and Luka Doncic provide all sorts of problems, sure, but with Anthony Edwards leading the way, Minnesota has plenty of its own star power… and waaaaaay more depth than the Lakers, after their front office sent it all to Dallas for Luka.

And by the time round one started to heat up, there seemed to be another clear Timberwolves advantage: Coaching. Chris Finch has his critics, but we saw the antithesis of the coach Finchy is, with J.J. Redick during what wound up being a 5-game series.

Throughout the first round, Reddick often looked flustered, frustrated and openly willing to cuss out his players (and media members) publicly. Those have never been traits we’ve seen displayed by the almost always calm, cool and collected Chris Finch

Minnesota Timberwolves make a mockery of JJ Redick

Anything Lakers is going to dominate the headlines, nationally. If it’s an upset 1-3 season-ending playoff loss to podunk Minnesota… now that requires special attention. And under the bright lights of LA, they don’t like losing to teams from states they can’t name the capitals of.

On First Take (ESPN) Thursday, Stephen A. Smith and Brian Windhorst had their crosshairs focused on JJ Redick took plenty of the fire.

Brian Windhorst calls out JJ Redick after the Lakers lost in 5 to the Timberwolves.

"Reggie Miller said on the broadcast last night he had to try to calm him down in the pregame meeting because JJ was acting, frankly, childishly." pic.twitter.com/kRzpWvTE7j

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 1, 2025

“I don’t mean this in a personal way, JJ Redick coached very immaturely in this series. He was still seething and upset about the previous games to the point where Reggie Miller said on the broadcast last night he had to try to calm him down in the pregame meeting because JJ was acting, frankly, childishly. He walked off and storm off in the pregame session with reporters. Regardless of the question, it’s not the way to start.

Not only did he double down on his, frankly, irrational decision not to substitute for an entire half in a playoff game. He doubled down on that. Then, in this game, he played a guy who hadn’t played in three months ahead of centers that he had on his roster.”

Brian Windhorst – Get UP (ESPN)

It was always going to be an uphill battle for the Lakers to contend with Minnesota’s size, even if nobody wanted to see it beforehand. After rescinding a trade for Mark Williams earlier this season, and dealing Anthony Davis for Luka Doncic, Los Angeles had no answer for Rudy Gobert or Julius Randle.

Of course, that was especially evident during game five as Gobert finished with an easy 27 points and 24 rebounds. He was able to constantly mop up misses and found his way to the bucket without any resistance.

Related: What We Learned About the MN Timberwolves in Series Clinching Win Over Lakers

Jaxson Hayes, the Lakers 7’0″ center, got a whopping 30 total minutes in the series and didn’t play at all in game five. Minnesota dominated in the painted area as well. They had a 56-to-40 points advantage in game five and they outrebounded the lakes 54-to-37.

Was JJ Redick in over his head vs Timberwolves?

JJ Redick acted like a child when asked about his substitution decisions after game four. It was reflective of a coach with few levers left to pull, and the heavy lifting required by both LeBron and Luka to make up for roster construction and their coach was never going to be enough.

JJ Redick STORMED OUT of his press conference after he was asked if he will lean on his assistants when it comes to fourth quarter substitutions tonight. pic.twitter.com/xDSMBxhFTL

— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) May 1, 2025

At 40 years old, Redick is in the first season as an NBA head coach. He’s the same age as his superstar LeBron James. His inability to adjust in the biggest games of the season was exposed in this series.

It wasn’t just Windhorst taking a shot at the young Lakers coach. Former NBA big man Kendrick Perkins joined Scott Van Pelt on SportsCenter to discuss Redick’s role in the loss as well.

"I’m JJ Redick, I know basketball more than anybody in the world…I never want to do this and blame this series on one individual, but I have to blame this series on JJ Redick." – Kendrick Perkins pic.twitter.com/26RWCXGtIN

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 1, 2025

“‘I’m JJ Redick, I know basketball more than anybody in the world. I’m going to stick with this small-ball lineup no matter how big the Minnesota Timberwolves are. I’m going to do it my way because I only care about offense. Forget the fact that they have Rudy (Gobert) and Julius Randle has been punishing us in the paint. Jaden McDaniels has been going off in this series. I’m going to stick with a 40-year old LeBron James playing the center position’…Scott, it was ridiculous. I never want to do this and blame this series on one individual, but I have to blame this series on JJ Redick.

When it comes down to the postseason, as a coach, you have to make adjustments. When you see that things aren’t going as planned…and you lose this series in five, then you have to take the blame for this. You didn’t make any adjustments whatsoever.”

Kendrick Perkins – ESPN

It’s very possible JJ Redick has a long and notable career as a head coach. We’ll see if he learns from his mistakes in this series. No doubt, some introspection would serve him well.