JJ Redick Enjoys Seeing the Philadelphia 76ers succeed

PHILADELPHIA, PA -- During the last two NBA seasons, the Philadelphia 76ers were guided by their veteran leader, JJ Redick. Although Redick was limited in his skillset with the Sixers, his contributions went well beyond being a decent three-point shooter.
Similar to how he is now with the New Orleans Pelicans, Redick was an experienced captain while playing with the 76ers. Seeing as though their team was headlined by both, Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid, the young guys needed guidance. JJ Redick provided that.
Nowadays, Redick is no longer with the 76ers. After spending the last two seasons in Philly on one-year deals, Redick landed himself a healthy, two-year deal out in New Orleans.
Despite wanting to wrap his career up in Philadelphia, Redick went on and took on a nice opportunity, which featured more money and more years on a young team with substantial upside.
By no means is Redick's new squad having identical success to his recent former squad, but the veteran sharpshooter isn't percisely bitter about it. In fact, the former Sixer is enjoying the tought of his former team succeeding without him.
On Friday night, JJ Redick makes his return to the Wells Fargo Center for the first time since last spring. As he discussed playing against Philly for the first time in a couple of years, Redick revealed that he's still very much a fan of the 76ers.
JJ Redick on the Sixers: “It’s weird to say this but I’m enjoying their success, I really am. I will always pull for any Brett Brown coached team and obviously love Ben, Joel and Tobias and all those guys that I played with the last two years.” pic.twitter.com/owqEIvE9Xt
— Rich Hofmann (@rich_hofmann) December 13, 2019
"Yeah, I watch them," Redick said on Friday during the Pelicans' pregame shootaround. "It's weird to say this, but I'm enjoying their success -- I really am. I will always pull for any Brett Brown coached team. I obviously love Joel [Embiid], Ben [Simmons], and Tobias [Harris], and all of those other guys I've played with the last two years."
Redick will have the opportunity to play at The Center once more on Friday night. As you can expect, the veteran guard is excited to represent his new team in front of his former fan base. Sometimes, former players don't always get a warm reception from Sixers fans when they return. However, somebody like Redick will more than likely generate more cheers than boos -- especially after hearing how much he still enjoys Philly.
Justin Grasso was a credentialed writer and publisher covering the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated’s Philadelphia 76ers On SI Network. Grasso got his start in sports media in 2016 with FantasyPros, working the news desk, providing game-by-game player analysis and updates on the Portland Trail Blazers and the Golden State Warriors. By 2017, he joined FanSided’s Philadelphia Eagles site as a staff writer. After spending one season covering the Eagles as a staff writer, Grasso was promoted to become the site’s Co-Editor. For the next two NFL seasons, he covered the Eagles closely before broadening his NFL coverage. For a brief stint, Grasso covered the NFL on a national basis after joining Heavy.com as an NFL news desk writer. In 2019, Grasso joined the 76ers' beat on a part-time basis, stepping into a role with South Jersey’s 97.3 ESPN. Ahead of the 2019-2020 NBA season, he concluded a three-year stint covering the Eagles and joined the Sixers beat full-time. Grasso has covered the 76ers exclusively since then for Sports Illustrated. He is a member of the Pro Basketball Writers Association. Twitter: @JGrasso_ Instagram: @JGrassoMedia Threads: @JGrassoMedia
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