Warriors veteran Chris Paul recently joined Draymond Green on his podcast, discussing his recent move to the Dubs and his basketball career. While speaking to the Warriors forward, the veteran stumbled upon the aspect of competitiveness in basketball, which led to CP3 revealing his early beef with his former Los Angeles Clippers teammate, JJ Redick.
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As college opponents, with Paul at Wake Forest and Redick at Duke, both players considered each other bitter rivals, given the already existing distaste between the two schools. Though Redick was a year ahead of Paul, he once admitted in 2016 that he never liked CP3 while competing as college opponents.
One of the primary emotions that stemmed this beef further was Redick and Paul’s competitiveness. CP3 considers Redick very much like him in terms of their competitive spirit, which later helped him squash their beef once they became teammates.
Paul told Draymond Green,
“So in college, me and JJ [Redick] couldn’t stand each other. We got in a fight, got into it, and I’d never forget I was standing in my closet in LA when Doc Rivers hit me and told me we had a chance to get JJ Redick.”
Indeed, to play with one of your bitter rivals from your early days could be difficult for anyone. Paul wanted to clarify that he could not stand Redick. However, considering the depth Redick’s addition would add to the team, CP3 did not want to act selfishly. Hence, when Coach Rivers sought Chris Paul’s opinion on acquiring Redick, the point god promptly said, “Let’s get him.”
Chris Paul realized that he was very much alike to most of his competitors, including JJ Redick. Moreover, Chris Paul was also one of the Warriors’ bitter rivals while playing for the Clippers between 2011 and 2017. However, he was ready to give a chance to the new opportunities.
Chris Paul and JJ Redick squashed their beef right away ever since they became teammates at the Clippers. In a 2013 interview with Yahoo! Sports, Chris Paul said, “We have actually had a chance to become real close, real quick. Who would have thought after the battles we had in college.”
JJ Redick shared the same sentiment, saying, “We connected right away.” Redick and Paul remained teammates until 2017, when both parted ways with the Clippers to join the Philadelphia 76ers and Houston Rockets, respectively.
JJ Redick and Chris Paul were fiercely competitive rivals during their college days
The rivalry between Chris Paul and JJ Redick stemmed from the time when they both played in the Atlantic Coast Conference in college, just a 90-minute drive from each other. Redick used to play at Duke from 2002-06, and Paul was starting for Wake Forest from 2003-05.
One of the tipping points in their feud came in 2004 when Redick hit Paul out of frustration, causing a major injury scare for the future All-Star MVP and an almost lasting mark on their beef. However, when Redick apologized to Paul for his actions, CP3 accepted the apology despite not liking his future Clippers teammate.
Since joining the NBA, Paul and Redick never spoke to each other for over seven seasons. During the 2011-12 season, Paul had to miss three games after bumping knees with Redick during a 104-101 loss to Redick’s former team, Orlando Magic.
However, after Redick arrived at the Clippers on a four-year, $27 million deal, things started to get better between the two veterans. Today, both Paul and Redick have equal respect for each other. Redick highly regards Chris Paul’s prowess in the game and often calls Paul one of his favorite point guards in the league.
