The Sports Report: The Lakers hire JJ Redick as coach. Why?

Howdy, I’m your host, Houston Mitchell. Let’s get right to the news.

From Bill Plaschke: So now it’s painfully clear that JJ doesn’t stand for Just Joking.

So now this is real.

Real unusual. Real unsettling. Real unfortunate.

An NBA team in most need of strong leadership just hired a head coach who has never been a head coach, assistant coach, or any kind of coach.

An NBA team desperate for a culture creator just hired a head coach who has never led a group of athletes at any level above youth basketball.

An NBA team that just lost its share of the record for most championships — the newly crowned Boston Celtics now have 18, dammit! — just hired a coach who has never been involved with an NBA champion.

An NBA team that needs a powerful voice to drown out the overwhelming and often misguided influence of LeBron James just hired LeBron James’ podcast partner.

Welcome to the Lakers, JJ Redick.

Buckle up, everybody else.

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DODGERS

From Jack Harris: In the wake of Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s shoulder injury last week, the Dodgers didn’t feel the need to identify a new No. 2 starter.

They weren’t necessarily counting on someone else in their rotation to elevate their game.

“These [other] starters,” manager Dave Roberts said, “just need to go out there and be themselves.”

Still, recent history suggests the Dodgers will, at some point, need someone to fill Yamamoto’s role near the top of the rotation. Few teams can succeed in the playoffs without at least a couple of legitimate frontline options. Too often in their recent October failures, the Dodgers have been short on elite-level pitching.

This week, the team got a look at their best internal choices to handle such a task.

And on Thursday, in a 5-3 win over the Colorado Rockies, Gavin Stone showed glimpses of the dominance that could make him their best current alternative.

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Dodgers box score

MLB scores

MLB standings

SPARKS

Sabrina Ionescu scored 31 points and Jonquel Jones added 22 to help the New York Liberty beat the Sparks 93-80 on Thursday night.

The Sparks were playing their first game since they lost star rookie Cameron Brink to an ACL tear in her left knee.

The Liberty (13-3) led 60-54 with 2:58 left in the third quarter before Ionescu and Jones combined to score the first 11 points of a 13-0 run to give New York a double-digit cushion. Ionescu got it started with consecutive three-pointers, and Jones added one. Ionescu then found Jones for an easy basket on the next possession.

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Sparks box score

WNBA standings

STANLEY CUP FINAL

Schedule and results
All times Pacific
Florida Panthers vs. Edmonton Oilers
at Florida 3, Edmonton 0 (box score)
at Florida 4, Edmonton 1 (box score)
Florida 4, at Edmonton 3 (box score)
at Edmonton 8, Florida 1 (box score)
Edmonton 5, at Florida 3 (box score)
Friday at Edmonton, 5 p.m., ESPN
*Monday at Florida, 5 p.m., ESPN

*-if necessary

THIS DATE IN SPORTS

1932 — Jack Sharkey scores a 15-round split decision over Max Schmeling to win the world heavyweight title in New York.

1960 — Armin Hary of West Germany becomes the first man to run 100 meters in 10.0 seconds at a meet in Zurich, Switzerland.

1964 — Jim Bunning of the Philadelphia Phillies pitches a perfect game against the New York Mets. The no-hitter gives Bunning one in each league and the Phillies’ Gus Triandos becomes the first catcher to handle no-hitters in both leagues.

1965 — Gary Player becomes the third man to win golf’s top four pro titles when he captures the U.S. Open. Player beats Kel Nagle by three strokes in a playoff round. Gene Sarazen and Ben Hogan had won the U.S. and British Opens, the Masters and the PGA.

1970 — Britain’s Tony Jacklin becomes the first English golfer in 50 years to win the U.S. Open, beating Dave Hill by five strokes.

1970 — FIFA World Cup Final, Estadio Azteca, Mexico City: Brazil and Pelé become first team and player to win World Cup 3 times, beating Italy, 4-1 in front of 107,412.

1971 — Lee Trevino beats Jack Nicklaus by two strokes in a playoff to win the U.S. Open.

1975 — S. Kaye Bell becomes the first woman to train the winner of a $100,000 stakes race when she sends Mr. Lucky Phoenix to win the Michigan Mile and One-Eighth Handicap at Detroit Racecourse.

1988 — 42nd NBA Championship: Lakers beat Detroit Pistons, 4 games to 3.

1994 — Lori McNeil upsets five-time champion Steffi Graf 7-5, 7-6 (7-5) in the first round of Wimbledon. Graf becomes the first reigning women’s champion to lose in the first round.

1997 — The New York Liberty beat the Sparks 67-57 in the WNBA’s inaugural game. A crowd of 14,284 attends the game at the Great Western Forum in Inglewood.

2003 — Lennox Lewis retains his heavyweight title when a cut stops Vitali Klitschko after six brawling rounds. All three ringside judges had Klitschko winning 58-56, but ring doctor Paul Wallace orders referee Lou Moret to stop the fight.

2012 — Miami’s LeBron James caps his title bid with 26 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds, Chris Bosh adds 23 points, Dwyane Wade scores 20 points and the Heat finish off the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 5 of the NBA Finals, winning 121-106.

2015 — Jordan Spieth becomes the sixth player to win the Masters and the U.S. Open after Dustin Johnson three-putts from 12 feet on the final hole at Chambers Bay with a chance to win the championship himself. The 21-year-old Spieth becomes the youngest player to win two majors since Gene Sarazen in 1922 and was the youngest U.S. Open champion since Bobby Jones in 1923.

2018 — Arizona center Deandre Ayton is the first pick of the NBA Draft by the Phoenix Suns.

Compiled by the Associated Press