It seems like the friendship between LeBron James and JJ Redick is really off to a great start. The Mind the Game Pod co-hosts are bonding well even though their new project is only two weeks old. Recently, LeBron found a rare clip of Redick playing for the Duke Blue Devils in front of a Maryland crowd, who broke all barriers of hating on him. LBJ also had a cheeky response to the clip that he shared on his Instagram story.
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Redick played for the Blue Devils from 2002 to 2006. After that, he was picked by the Orlando Magic in the 2006 NBA Draft as the first-round 11th overall pick. Even though he transitioned from college basketball to the NBA, one thing that unfortunately remained constant for Redick was the hate that he used to get from the opposition. The clip shared by LeBron was originally posted by Rare Sports on Instagram, where Redick can be seen shooting free throws amid loud heckling and jeering from fans.
The most impressive thing in the clip is that when he was seen standing on the free throw line, the stat shown in the screen revealed that Redick had 25 points with 18.5 left on the clock. Additionally, he had a perfect 8-8 FT record for the game, and the ace shooter’s season free throw percentage stood at an astonishing 98%.
Unfortunately, that is not the reason why the clip went viral. In the background, Maryland fans can be heard chanting some foul things against the Duke star, which included a chorus of, “F**k you, Redick.” Sharing the clip on his IG story, LeBron joked, “They really loved you”, with some laughing emojis.
JJ Redick considered quitting basketball because of the hate
Athletes are tough individuals who can endure tremendous amount of physical pain and psychological pressure. However, when the hate starts pouring in, only a select few can withstand that. During an appearance on the Pardon My Take podcast in 2022, Redick talked about why he considered going into an early retirement from college basketball as opposition fans hating on him were willing to ignore all boundaries. As a Duke athlete, Redick had picked up the reputation of a villain and fans were not only targeting him for it, but were also going after his family.
During the podcast, Redick said, “Truthfully, I had to process people saying things that you just don’t hear said about you, to you, about your family. Some of the stuff that was said about my sisters was just like, how can anyone just be that hateful? It just didn’t make sense to me.” Redick added that he wanted to quit his sophomore year and even had a serious discussion about it with his family.
