It seems that great shooters have usually made for amazing basketball analysts. Tim Legler at ESPN seems to be the biggest such example. Legler is more widely known as an analyst than for his rather short NBA career.
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JJ Redick could also be going a similar route, even though the Duke product has had a much more memorable career. Through 15 seasons in the NBA, Redick compiled quite the career for a specialist.
He debuted with the Orlando Magic, who drafted him in 2006. After 5 and a half seasons in Central Florida, Redick earned a trade to the Milwaukee Bucks.
His most famous spell came with the LA Clippers, who he played for from 2013 till 2017. Redick was an integral member of the Lob City era team’s starting lineups. Many consider it to be one of the best teams never to become true NBA championship contenders.
Here’s more of the bit, where Chris Paul and JJ Redick reminisce on playing together – “The thing I miss the most about the Clippers days is sort of the intuition. The wink-wink, things we didn’t have to say. You and DJ had their things, you and Blake had their things.” pic.twitter.com/fL1TGq5G1P
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) December 9, 2020
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Tyrese Haliburton has some fun after JJ Redick says he could still play in the NBA
JJ Redick has one of the most insightful NBA podcasts currently, named The Old Man and the Three. Redick hosts basketball-related guests on his show, which averages 1-2 episodes every week.
Darius Garland and JB Bickerstaff were the most recent guests on the 3-point sniper’s podcast. The Cavaliers duo gave us some great insights about their vision for the team with Donovan Mitchell around.
During the segment, Garland initiated a question about JJ Redick and his readiness to play in the current NBA season. The question was met with quite an honest response by the ESPN employee:
“I’ll answer this honestly. I still need to get surgery on my Achilles. So could I play a season? No, I could not play a season.”
“(But) You give me a week, and you say ‘You’ve gotta play 22 minutes in a Tuesday night regular season game.’ I can get you 15. I may give up 22, but I could get you 15.”
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Tyrese Haliburton, who’s become a good friend of Redick and the podcast, went on to have some fun. He commented with a rallying cry for Redick on the Instagram post for the conversation.
He’d instantly become the Lakers’ best shooter. pic.twitter.com/5Q4YHWnTdE
— Amulya Shekhar (@tweet_amulya) February 5, 2023
Could Redick really help an NBA team at 38 years of age?
While Redick was as elite a 3-point shooter in the league as anyone not named Stephen Curry, he was never the greatest athlete. His ability to navigate screens and create space for himself went down by quite a bit in his final season.
Given that he also has an Achilles to tend to, it seems exceedingly unlikely that he could bear the brunt of playing heavy minutes in today’s extremely fast-paced NBA.
Redick was also never a plus defender during his career. The swingman lived and died by the 3, and on the nights that his shot wasn’t falling, he was a clear liability. At this particular age, there’s no doubt that Redick would bleed points for his own team on defense.
