Has JJ Redick officially succumbed to the temptation of hot-take sports media? Well, perhaps.
Redick, who formerly spent 15 years in the NBA and now serves as an analyst on ESPN, was halfway there to raising a fair critique of Boston Celtics icon Larry Bird.
During a debate with Chris “Mad Dog” Russo on ESPN’s “First Take” program on Feb. 15, Redick took issue with Russo’s take regarding all-time great shooters. No, Russo didn’t challenge the former Duke standout. Instead, Russo labeled Bird a top-three 3-point shooter of all-time. Redick on the other hand disagreed heavily, implying that 3-point snipers today such as Stephen Curry already surpassed Bird in that category — a fair point.
However, the in-bounds debate took a flagrant-worthy turn when Redick challenged the physicality of Bird’s era, raising an unfair critique to support his stance further.
Redick, who responded on his “Old Man and the Three” podcast, elected to double down.
“I didn’t disrespect Larry Bird,” Redick said. “I questioned the narrative around physicality. I said for every montage video you can show me of Larry Bird being in a headlock underneath the basket, I can show you a montage video of him shooting open jumpers. Of him coming off pin-downs. Yeah, I can show Steph the same way. I can show Steph getting held, I can show Larry getting held. It’s all basketball.”
Once again, comparing the physical toll of a headlock to “getting held” is generalizing in a lazy manner to fail at proving a point that doesn’t exist.
This anti-1980s NBA stance prompted a strongly-worded response from Basketball Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins who described Redick’s take as “idiotic.”
“First of all, Redick don’t know what the hell he’s talking about,” Wilkins on SiriusXM NBA Radio last Tuesday. “I’m like, what basketball was he watching? To say something as idiotic as that is ridiculous. The physicality that was part of the league. … I just don’t like the disrespect. To say that about Larry Bird — less physically — is (Redick) stupid? It’s just a stupid comment to make.”
