In the first round of the NBA playoffs the Los Angeles Clippers squared off against the Dallas Mavericks. Tensions began running high from the jump, and it culminated in an ugly confrontation between Montrezl Harrell and Luka Doncic, where the latter was called a “b**** a** white boy” by the former.
For obvious reasons, the situation blew up and eventually Harrell apologized to Doncic and everyone moved on.
This past week, JJ Redick appeared on the All The Smoke podcast with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson. While on the show, he touched on that incident between Harrell and Doncic and why he doesn’t view it as a big deal.
“Look, when you play competitive basketball, and you go back to AAU when I was 12 years old, I’m a white guy playing a black guy sport,” he said.
“That’s just reality. There’s nothing racist about that. The majority of great players in the NBA are black.”
Because he was one of the few white players around, Redick said he heard similar insults before.
“Being called a b**** a** white boy is something I’ve heard since I was like 12 or 13,” he continued.
“I laughed when Montrezl said it, I thought it was hilarious. But I also get we are in a time right now where everything is exposed and every little thing that’s said is just so raw and the emotions are so high. So, if you take that timing I don’t think is that big of a deal but I understood the reactions to it.”
What it really boils down to for Redick is his view on “reverse racism.”
“I just don’t think there’s reverse racism,” he concluded.
“I just don’t think that exists.”
On the same podcast, Redick also briefly touched on his time with the Philadelphia 76ers and the organization’s decision not to bring him back.
“They f***** up not bringing me back, man,” he said.
“They f***** up not bringing me back.”
“I agree,” Barnes chipped in.
“I completely agree. I agree 1000% and that’s what people don’t get. You’re not a star, but you’re a glue, consistent guy that knocks down shots and you need that, especially with [Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons].”
Steve Ballmer is pissed. https://t.co/Dpw2LrO7yx
— Game 7 (@game7__) October 1, 2020
Instead, Redick went and signed a two-year deal with the New Orleans Pelicans worth $26 million.
“I’ve said this before, but the one constant in Philly has been personnel in and out,” he said.
“Like, you just have a ton of players that come through there. And so I think, Joel talked about this on my podcast, for him, he’s played with like, I don’t even f****** know at this point, hundreds of teammates. It’s just a rotating cast of teammates, you know?”
The reactions were about what you’d expect. https://t.co/qfG3lozTUV
— Game 7 (@game7__) October 2, 2020
Redick is coming off one of the best shooting seasons of his career. His three point percentage of 45.3 was second only to his 2015-16 mark with the Los Angeles Clippers, when he shot an insane 47.5 percent from beyond the arc.
It wasn’t all good news for the former Duke star in 2020, though. This year marked the first time in his 13-year career that he missed the playoffs.
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A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
