JJ Redick has been a rising star since arriving at ESPN, whether it’s been debating with Stephen A Smith on First Take or being a color commentator on NBA games. Redick does view himself as being pro-player from his 16-year career in the league, but he does not view that as a negative.
“I don’t look at being pro player as some sort of bias,” he said this week on the Knuckleheads with Quentin Richardson & Darius Miles podcast. “I do think there are narratives, not just on First Take, about Lebron, Kevin [Durant], Steph [Curry] that I think are stupid. I think there are bad narratives.”
JJ Redick did mention that last year he felt he had to cross the pro-player threshold when he talked about the situation in New Orleans where CJ McCollum hadn’t heard from Zion Williamson after McCollum was traded to New Orleans. He didn’t feel bad about anything he said for two different reasons.
“One, I said everything I said on camera to Zion personally because I was his teammate. Two, some of that stuff was about the sanctity of the team.
“I had to go talk about Kyrie/KD/Nets. Some of that is uncomfortable to talk about because I want to be pro-player. I want to support all players. I’m a fan of basketball. But, sometimes you f up the sanctity of your team, we need to have a discussion about that.”
Back in September, JJ Redick signed a three-year deal with ESPN and for a player who didn’t think he would ever work in media, he is happy to be doing what he is doing now.
“Last year I looked at as like a test run. What do I like to do, what things are important to me, what do I want to do? For me, it’s calling games and First Take. I like battling with Stephen A. I like doing that stuff.”
