JJ Redick Says He Almost Quit Playing Basketball
If you are a 18-30 old sports fan, you listen to Pardon My Take. It’s an unwritten rule. It’s like how moms HAVE to leave the check-out line at the grocery store to get one more item when you’re next up. That’s their thing. Our thing is listening to Big Cat and PFT.
One of the episodes this past week was especially interesting because our favorite $23 million shooting guard, JJ Redick, was a special guest. Redick, host of the JJ Redick podcast (creative), talked with the guys about Duke, the Clippers dysfunction, the Sixers…and Dwight Howard confessing his love for the Orlando Magic while naked in the shower because he thought he was getting traded to Brooklyn (he did not get traded to Brooklyn).
If I had to do a Mt. Rushmore of guests I’d like to hear on a podcast infamous for doing Mt. Rushmore’s, Redick would definitely make my cut. He’s a really smart and articulate guy. Plus, with his own podcast experience, he’s really good on the mic. Maybe one day he will save Get Up from being a dumpster fire for ESPN. The best guests on the podcasts are guys who are comfortable with PMT’s humor and are great in an open mic setting. (That being said, the guys interviewing Canelo Alvarez only to start the interview and find out Canelo couldn’t speak a lick of English was an all-timer).
So, having JJ on in this setting was a pleasure. Once Big Cat got all his “Coach K fakes injuries” takes out of the way, Redick got to talking in a serious manner about his time at Duke. Redick, one of the greatest shooters of all time and college legend, confessed he at one point wanted to quit basketball while he was there:
“I wanted to quit my sophomore year. I had my sisters, they live in Raleigh, meet me on campus and I was just like I don’t want to play anymore. This is not for me. This is not fun. The first two years were really hard for me. I spent the first three years at Duke seeing a therapist.”
I did not see this coming from a podcast who calls Darren Rovel on a regular basis just to tell him he’s a nerd and purposely pee’d on themselves in front of Mark Schlereth. But, I get it. When you’re a talented white player at Duke, you either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain. Redick went on to say at times he acted cocky because people expected him to act cocky. If that dude plays at Syracuse, he probably goes down as a legend. If Gerry fucking McNamara can be the man, imagine what JJ would have been. At Duke, the entire country hated his guts. He was must see television every time he stepped into Cameron Indoor.
It’s crazy to think that it’s been over a decade since all of that happened. Now, he’s our knight in shining armor that protects Markelle Fultz at all costs #HesFucking19.
Oh, and JJ admits during the podcast that Bryan Colangelo did have abnormally large collars.