Ex-NBA Player Rips ‘Asinine’ Celtics Take From Boston Radio Host

The Boston Celtics have successfully ignored the outside noise and chit-chatter throughout their escape from the Eastern Conference and securing a spot in the NBA Finals. However, one ex-veteran has had enough.

JJ Redick, a former NBA sharpshooter of 15 seasons and current analyst for ESPN/podcaster, was welcomed as a guest on 98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Felger & Mazz” show Wednesday. Hurled with questions left and right, Redick didn’t enjoy the Boston radio environment, irked with one particular question about the Celtics being “out-worked” from host Michael Felger.

“I don’t think you get out-worked at this stage of basketball,” Redick told Felger, per NBC Sports Boston. “I think that’s a very asinine way to talk about the NBA. You think Boston beat Indiana because Indiana got out-worked?”

Redick added: “The better team always wins because they present a problem that can’t be solved.”

Felger suggested Boston’s past postseason struggles with the Heat are a sure indicator of getting out-worked. Last season, especially, Miami out-performed the Celtics, doing so with a much less talented roster. As the story goes, Boston quickly fell 0-3 in the 2023 conference finals, fought back to push a Game 7, and got embarrassed in the winner-take-all showdown at TD Garden by Jimmy Butler and company.

Redick’s point, while valid in certain instances, doesn’t necessarily apply to the Celtics. The once-considered candidate for an assistant position in Boston was slightly disingenuous in recognizing expectations. With a roster as stacked as the Celtics comes a bar set from Opening Night, and using “problems” to bypass underperforming isn’t sufficient, regardless of what Redick believes — or claims to believe to protect his NBA-relation interests.

“You get to this stage in the season and it is a little bit of a chess match,” Redick said. “It’s not who’s out-working someone or who wants it more.”

Boston is still awaiting its finals opponent — the Mavericks lead the Timberwolves, 3-1, in the Western Conference finals — before getting its chance to silence all outside skepticism.