JJ Redick ready to transition to post-retirement life as NBA analyst for ESPN
Posted November 2, 2021 11:51 a.m. EDT
Former Duke star JJ Redick has managed to do what seemed impossible during his time in college — transition from hated villain to insanely likable.
Redick's arc began during his 15-year NBA career, a longer one than plenty of pundits posited at the time he left Duke and ended of his own accord just a few months ago. He was too one-dimensional of a scorer, some said back then. But in the time since he was drafted in 2006 until now, the game has changed and Redick's shooting ability became much more highly prized. The one dimension was an important one.
In 2017, Redick began a podcast that quickly became wildly popular. Even though he was still playing, he wasn't afraid to drop his genuine opinions on all things NBA and gave a unique perspective on what it was like being a professional athlete.
After he announced his retirement recently, it seemed as if the podcast would be part of his next step. It still will be, now dubbed "The Old Man and the 3". But he will also join ESPN as an NBA analyst.
And it was clear when he met with the media on Monday that what has endeared him to NBA fans — his willingness to speak the truth without worrying about whose feelings he might hurt — was not going to suffer now that he's starting in television.
The first question was about former Duke star Zion Williamson.
"Of course I would be worried just in general about Zion, given his injury history. There's certainly a lot more at play here than just whether or not he ends up leaving the Pelicans in five years or four years or whatever it is," Redick said. "Zion has to he has to be in better shape and that's not a secret. And he's got to get healthy."
Redick wanted to make it clear, though, that he does not intend on becoming what he called a "hot take person" as an analyst. That's not his style.
I don't plan on being a hot take person," Redick said. "I'm looking to provide analysis I'm looking to provide the why, the how, all of that stuff. I love basketball so, so much. I've got 30 years, basically, of basketball knowledge in this brain and I want to share it with the average fan. I want the average fan to come away from one of my appearances knowing the game a little bit better, understanding the game a little bit better."
Redick's knowledge and love for the game was one of the things that he remembers attracted his former coach at Duke, Mike Krzyzewski, to him as a recruit.
"At the time, I didn't know this, but he was basically watching me off the court as much as he was watching me on the court. And one of the things he told me later on when I ended up at Duke was a lot of kids would go call their parents get on their cell phones, go fool around outside. I was just watching basketball," Redick said. "I was just obsessed with the game and I still am."
Redick's number was retired at Duke the year after he left, and he was the all-time ACC career scoring leader when his Duke career ended in 2006. Tyler Hansbrough would pass him in 2009.
He was asked if he'd considered delving into the world of college basketball when contacted by ESPN, but Redick said that's not in the works. He's really always been more of an NBA guy.
But he was quick to add that he'll be happy to share any stories and anecdotes he can about his former coach in his final season.
He recalled a few memorable Krzyzewski moments, including a particularly interesting use of the movie Braveheart.
"We're getting ready to play Georgia Tech. Coming off an emotional Thursday game. Or Wednesday game. I believe it was at Wake Forest. We lost. I missed a half court shot to tie it at the buzzer. We come in Friday night and we watched Braveheart. We've all probably seen Braveheart —very visceral film, lots of blood, lots of gore, lots of violence. We watch the battle scene. Braveheart, the first sort of main battle scene where he's fighting with the with the rebels," Redick said. "People's heads are getting chopped off, heads on spikes, all that. We weren't sure what was happening.
"The next day we come in for the pregame meet meeting. He plays the same scene again. He's not in the room. In hindsight, I should have noticed that there was a flower pot sitting next to the big screen. And as the scene culminates, he runs in with his army saber and screaming like William Wallace and sticks it in the flowerpot. I mean, if you don't want to go play all out after that, you don't have a soul. So he's always looking for something to motivate but his greatness is as much X's and O's and understanding people as it is motivation."
Duke will open the season with Kentucky, and Redick is excited.
Although he's still trying to get some courtside seats.
"I don't want to get tickets through Duke because they usually put me in the 20th row. So I'm waiting for one of the boosters to offer me courtside seats. So I'm still holding out hope, but hopefully I'll be at that game," Redick said. "But seriously, every every game at Duke is a is a big game. Every day at Duke is a big day. That's something that was instilled in me as a freshman. And it's one of the reasons that I was able to have the NBA career that I had, because I learned that when I was around coach for four years, I never saw him having an off day. There's a personal standard and a personal excellence that he brings every single day. He wants his teams to reflect that he wants his players to reflect that."
But now, he's preparing himself for his next step. Which is something he's been doing throughout his career.
Redick said whether it was on or off the court, he has always tried to be focused on what's next, not what's at the end.
"It"s one of the reasons I think I had a great career because I wasn't focused on two things away. I was focused on the present. When I was at Cave Spring (High School), I was focused on winning a state championship, getting a scholarship from Duke. I did that," Redick said. "When I got to Duke, I wasn't thinking about the NBA. I was thinking about being an All-American, winning a championship, getting my jersey retired, doing all those things. And then I got to the NBA and I was all in for 15 years on my career and trying to be a little bit better every day."
Things started to change for Redick when he turned 30. That was when he had his first son, Knox. His second son Kai was born two years later.
Children change your perspective, as does aging. When both happen at the same time, it makes you think a few more steps ahead than you might otherwise.
"It's natural when you hit your 30s, you start having kids and your your body starts hurting a little bit more, then you realize there's probably going to be something else coming up pretty soon. And so it wasn't until five, six years ago that I really started thinking about what would be next.," Redick said. "This just felt really natural. It felt like a natural transition for me. Maybe to some of y'all it seemed obvious because of the the podcasts and all that stuff. But this this felt really natural for me. I didn't feel like I had to force this."
Redick got representation a few years ago for non-basketball opportunities, and he started thinking seriously about it then, meeting with higher-ups at Turner and ESPN.
He had a pretty good idea last season would be his final NBA season, and he started looking more seriously into it then.
"This first year out (of basketball), I wanted to be able to have time to spend with my family and this job gives me that, gives me a lot of flexibility. And it gives me something that I'm very excited about trying to do and hopefully being very good at. I'm a competitive person, and so I want to be good at this job," Redick said. "I've told ESPN that I am open to whatever. I'll do studio stuff. I'll do radio stuff. I'll do games. I'm just always looking to get better at my craft."
Redick hopes that his sons can make him better at his new job the same way they did at his old one.
He said having a son helped change his perspective in a good way.
"My son (Knox) was born the summer I turned 30. I had a pretty good year that year with with (the LA Clippers) but was hurt for most of it. I would say other than last season when I was injured most of the season, the other six years that I had children were my best years of my career. And I think the biggest thing is perspective," Redick said. "When you are a highly motivated, highly OCD person who holds yourself to a standard, it can be difficult to sort of bounce back from the inevitable down game or a slump. But when you come home and you get to hang out with your kids, and you're their hero no matter what, it just gives you a little bit of comfort, a little bit of peace.
"I would say as a player, I was way more stressed prior to kids. That performance anxiety that I spoke about earlier was was there throughout my life and it was certainly was still there at the end of my career. But I don't know — kids, they lighten you up a little bit. And it's not to say I got less competitive but I certainly had more joy in my life."
That ability to balance his family and work in a way he never could before is part of what drew him to television.
He does have some experience, having appeared on ESPN's The Jump and NBA Countdown shows in the past. But this will be different.
"I've had a little bit of experience, but there's nothing that can really exactly simulate what I'll be doing. And I've never done a game before. And honestly, if I'm being truthful, that's probably the thing I'm most excited about is the opportunity to do to do a few games this year," Redick said. "I would compare it to a a live podcast, because you're just sort of reacting to what's going on on the court. You're providing insight, providing analysis, hopefully a little bit of humor. And hopefully there's some chemistry with the play by play guy. So those are the things that that I'm sort of looking forward to."
At the end of the day, Redick hopes that he'll find success the same way he did as a player — by being true to himself.
He's not just going to have the stereotypical former player perspective, either.
"This may come as a shock to some people, but although I'm a player, I'm also an analytics person. I study analytics. I know ESPN uses a lot of great stats, and I'm looking to impart some of those stats so the average fan can understand what usage percentages and understand why a certain player going to a team with two high-usage players may have a decline in the stats," Redick said. "I always say this league is not two plus two equals four. Sometimes two plus two equals five, and sometimes it equals seven. You never really know. And that's what makes our sports so beautiful because it's this sort of organic mixture of personalities and skills and luck, and you never know what the product is going to result in."
He doesn't know how to rate his own career. When he started out playing in his driveway as a kid, he was just trying to work on dribbling with both hands and couldn't shoot. Now, he's one of the best shooters in the history of college and NBA basketball.
But he does know that retirement makes you appreciate all you've accomplished that much more. And he wants that for his former head coach as well.
"Hopefully our Duke team has a sense of urgency this year to make this year super special for (Coach K)," Redick said. "I'm looking at this year as sort of a celebration of everything that he's accomplished, everything he's done for the game of basketball, college basketball, the Olympics. He's one of the greatest coaches in any sport ever. And and I'm hoping along with maybe a national championship in April, we can celebrate everything that he's done for the game."
