JJ Redick pulled out an old highlight of himself crossing LeBron James up to explain how highlight plays are actually made iconic.
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Most of the current fans of the league started watching when Golden State began its dynastic run in 2014. For those reasons, many of them haven’t seen how basketball was played in previous eras.
One of the things these new fans are missing out on is how shooters like JJ Redick and Kyle Korver thrived. They wouldn’t shoot 10-12 3-pointers a game as snipers in the modern game do. But the thing Redick did have, which most other ‘shooting’ guards don’t, was a handle.
A ton of that skill that he displayed at Duke also transitioned well into the NBA. Following an adaptation period defensively – common to all rookies – Redick found himself playing heavy NBA minutes. He even played a huge role in eliminating LeBron’s Cavs team in the 2009 Eastern Finals.
While one could argue that his Clippers and Sixers days were the best of his career, there’s no doubt that JJ exhibited the totality of his offensive skill in the best fashion during his Orlando Magic days. This was because guards were encouraged to get easier mid-range shots for themselves early on in JJ’s career.
Such strategies meant that JJ Redick was once able to scalp LeBron James on a crossover dribble move. This was during the Lakers superstar’s Miami Heat days.
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However, Redick himself doesn’t quite consider this a highlight play. He explained the reasoning for this while interviewing Mikal Bridges recently.
JJ Redick explains why crossover moves with missed shots shouldn’t be highlights, citing his own move on LeBron James
JJ Redick started Mikal’s interview off with a question about whether the Suns gave CP3 any s**t for a missed layup. The Point God had gotten Anthony Edwards to bite on a nice fake, but he couldn’t finish the move. Mikal replied that they actually hadn’t, and that he liked the move.
It was a cue for JJ to start a tirade against the age of extremely short social media highlights. With the advent of TikToks and Instagram reels, people are trying to find too much gif-like content. It’s affecting legitimate highlight packages, and is one of JJ’s gripes with media:
“I don’t think we should be showcasing highlights of dribble moves where the guy then misses the shot. It’s very And-1 mixtape-esque. I don’t like it. It’s not 2 different moves, it’s a million-dollar move and a $2 finish!”
Mikal then tried to get JJ to admit that he’d have gloated about the move if he himself had done it. Redick emphatically denied this, citing an example of one of his own plays on none other than LeBron James:
“When I played for Orlando and LeBron James was on the Heat, I made him touch earth. But I missed the jumper, okay? He touched earth, he did a little twirl, but I missed the jumper!”
At the end of the day, JJ’s message is simple. Even if you cross LeBron James up, your job on that possession isn’t actually done unless you get the bucket.
