When we talk about the most underrated players of the 2000s and 2010s, the first names to come up are probably your Hedo Turkoglu, Jason Richardson, or Steve Francis. These guys were not All-NBA options but certainly hugely important for good teams. But Bucks shooting guard Michael Redd was one name that certainly belonged in that category too.
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When Ray Allen was traded from the Bucks, it was Redd who effortlessly stepped into that void and took over, leading them to a 42-40 record and the fourth seed (yes, it’s crazy that 500 basketball led to a top-four seed). The guard averaged 21.7 points per game that season, starting a streak of 20+ points per game scoring that lasted the next five years.
The main issue with Redd’s Bucks was the same one that faced Ray Allen’s teams a few years prior: lack of support. Redd’s co-star was Mo Williams, who would fail to make an all-star team while in Milwaukee, while being a good starter, was not good enough to be the second option on a good team.
And yet, in 2008, the Cleveland Cavaliers set out to prove whether that was the truth as they paired Mo Williams with a young LeBron James in hopes that Williams would be maximized. While Williams made his first, and only, all-star team, the Cavs were unsuccessful in winning the championship they were chasing.
According to Michael Redd himself, however, it was supposed to be him, not Williams joining LeBron in Cleveland.
“The trade would’ve brought me back to my home state where I grew up and played college ball,” said Redd, hypothesizing on a past that doesn’t exist, “teaming with LeBron before ‘teaming up’ became the norm.” A pairing of LeBron and Redd would have been a sign of things to come before Redd eventually gave way to fellow “Banana Boat member” and superstar Dwyane Wade.
Except, as Redd puts it, history would change.
“Do LeBron and I beat the Magic in the 2009 Conference Finals? Take down Kobe’s Lakers in the Finals? Does LeBron ever leave for Miami? I don’t know, but I occasionally wonder,” he wrote in the X tread.
As good as Redd was, 2008-09 was the last season of his career averaging over 20 points. He was out of the league just two and a half years later. If Redd were to change history as he claims he would, and LeBron stayed in Cleveland, the narratives would be vastly different.
Even if they win the 2007-08 Finals, there is no way that the core of players the Cavs had reach the heights of the Heatles era Miami. In fact, it’s more likely that LeBron would’ve been stuck on an old and injured roster as he tried to pull them to relevancy.
That is exactly what LeBron avoided in jumping to the Heat.
The Cavs as well would probably prefer their Mo Williams acquisition, as a 2011 trade deadline trade to the Clippers managed to net them Kyrie Irving who helped them get that championship five years later.
Ultimately, the only player who loses in our real-world history is Redd, an excellent player who doesn’t get the credit he deserves because of where he played and an abrupt fall-off due to injury. He’s right that history would be different.
Michael Redd was full of praise for LeBron James’ Olympic campaign
It’s worth noting that Redd’s championing of LeBron James was not dependent on the two being teammates in an alternate reality. Instead, the 12-year NBA veteran has been heaping praise on the all-time great for a while, specifically about his longevity.
In a set of posts coming across Twitter/X, podcast appearances, and even LinkedIn feeds, Redd has said it again and again. “It’s hard to comprehend LeBron’s longevity,” he said. LeBron is now four decades old. He is regularly setting records as the oldest person to do x, y, and z. While Redd retired at 32, LeBron has had more years on All-NBA teams than most players in NBA history have played in total.
“What LeBron has accomplished, as far as sheer longevity, far as years of dominance, though, has not been matched in basketball…and never will,” Redd added. The conversation surrounding LeBron James’ attempt at scaling the largely mythologized history of Michael Jordan.
LeBron continues to beat Father Time at a game the latter has never lost. Michael Redd is just like us: in awe at that fact.
