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JJ Redick, ESPN’s Newest Basketball Analyst, Winning Over Fans Quickly
As a college basketball star at Duke and a 17-year NBA veteran, JJ Redick didn’t always have the approval of all fans around the league. But since making his ESPN debut on Nov. 3, 2021, he has increasingly been impressing viewers as a basketball analyst.
Just this week, Redick has gone viral on various occasions due to comments he made during ESPN’s First Take. Fans and fellow sports analysts have applauded Redick for his thoughtful takes and for the way he handles himself on camera.
First, Redick fired back at Chris “Mad Dog” Russo for telling Warriors star Draymond Green to “shut up and play,” saying he has a real problem with painting Green as someone fans are tired of.
“The fans you’re talking about, talk about athletes the way that you just did,” Redick said. “The people on Fox News talk about them that way. That’s my issue. I don’t actually care about fans who watched Bob Cousy play, or Wilt play. I don’t care. I appreciate that they’ve been fans that long, but I don’t appreciate the undertone.”
Viewers loved Redick’s reaction.
Redick also made headlines when he went back and forth with ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith about his idea for the Lakers to trade LeBron James.
Much respect to @jj_redick
— Grant Liffmann (@GrantLiffmann) May 4, 2022
He’s already one of the best in the business
Watching someone like @jj_redick who actually speaks from a position of knowledge and experience go toe to toe with hot take artists is really something else, he's just straight dominating those guys and its not a fair fight at all.
— Haralabos Voulgaris (@haralabob) May 5, 2022
Needless to say, it sounds like Redick has a bright future in front of camera.
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Madison Williams is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated, where she specializes in tennis but covers a wide range of sports from a national perspective. Before joining SI in 2022, Williams worked at The Sporting News. Having graduated from Augustana College, she completed a master’s in sports media at Northwestern University. She is a dog mom and an avid reader.