Former NBA Star Blasts JJ Redick Over Michael Jordan Statement
It seems like once a year, JJ Redick finds a way to discredit Michael Jordan's legacy. That annual moment happened again when he was on The Big Podcast With Shaq. Redick's statements didn't make many former NBA stars happy.
“A lot of times, we’re comparing eras,” Redick said. “I’ll say this with Michael Jordan, and I don’t mean this to be controversial. During his Heyday, six teams were added to the NBA. There were 90 players added to the NBA.”
Due to the expansion teams, Redick believed that Jordan's competition was watered down.
“You’re not telling me that the league for a little bit is going to be a little watered down,” Redick questioned.
At this point, it's no longer become coincidental that Redick has been championing LeBron James over Jordan. He now runs a podcast with him, and may even potentially be coaching him next season on the Lakers. Regardless, Redick's comments angered many former NBA stars – including Gilbert Arenas.
On the newest episode of the Gil's Arena show, Arenas blasted the potential Lakers coach, telling him to do his homework.
“So in theory, you’re not watering it down because the players that are being picked are all NBA players, right,” Arenas questioned. “So yeah, the talent gets spread, but there’s no free agents that’s sitting on the market, like, you know, we’re not picking somebody who ain’t played in 20 years, being, you know, we’re not putting them on our team...Do your homework.”
Arenas then added that the expansion didn't really help Michael Jordan, but it helped the Pistons. If anything, one of those expansion teams, the Orlando Magic, actually beat Jordan in the playoffs.
“So, it didn’t help Jordan yet,” Arenas said. “It helped Detroit Pistons. They just turned. They wouldn’t even turn it over yet. Remember, this is the Detroit Pistons’ two championships. 89-90, yeah. So this is not Michael Jordan’s reign yet.”
It's become a strange obsession for the modern era of fans to discredit the greatness of Michael Jordan. It's just become very unfortunate that there's a central source that it stems from.
FARBOD ESNAASHARI