Watch: J.J. Redick Appears to Use Racial Slur While Wishing Fans Happy Chinese New Year
A video has surfaced on the NBA Reddit thread in which 76ers guard J.J. Redick appears to use a racial slur while wishing a happy Chinese New Year to NBA fans in China.
The video features a collection of players wishing a happy Chinese New Year and when it gets to Redick, he appears to say, "I just want to wish all of the NBA c---k fans in China, a very happy Chinese New Year."
The video was made by the Chinese media company Tencent and another version of the video without Redick was released. Chinese New Year was Feb. 16.
You can see the video featuring Redick and the video without Redick below.
Redick has since commented, saying that he was "tongue tied" and he has "love and respect" for the NBA fans in China.
Reddick issued a longer statement on Sunday night:
"To all our NBA fans in China and everyone celebrating the Chinese New Year, I want to sincerely apologize to anyone I may have offended. After a recent 76ers game, I was asked by the NBA and Tencent to record a video wishing our NBA fans in China a Happy New Year. I was glad to do it, I was intending to say "NBA Chinese fans" but it sounded weird in my mind so I changed it mid-sentence to "NBA fans in China." It came out the wrong way. At the time we recorded it, no one in the room -- not Tencent, not the 76ers PR team and certainly not myself heard the word that I purported to say. Had I known it sounded anything like that, I would have been mortified and recorded the greeting over again. That is not a word in my vocabulary but I now understand how it sounds on the video. That is not who I am -- as a person, a player, a husband and a father. I have been fortunate to play in two NBA Global Games in China (2007 & 2015). I loved the experience, the culture, the history, and most all, the people. I ask your forgiveness. This should be a time of celebration. I am so sorry for upsetting anyone."
Redick, 33, is in his 12th season in the NBA and his first with Philadelphia. He is averaging a career-high 16.9 points on 40.3 percent shooting from three to go with 3.3 assists and 2.8 rebounds for the 30-25 76ers.
