NBA player turned media rising star JJ Redick was caught in a firestorm after his recent take on Larry Bird that drew the ire of Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins.
The Atlanta Hawks icon was asked about Redick allegedly claiming that the physicality Larry Bird endured during his era may be overstated. However, the point Redick made was arguably taken out of context when it was served up to Wilkins, which led the sharpshooter to respond to his words being misconstrued as him “disrespecting” the Celtics legend.
“The question to Dominque centered around the idea that I disrespected Larry Bird. How? I didn't disrespect Larry Bird. I questioned the narrative around physicality,” said JJ Redick on his Old Man and the Three show. “I said for every montage video you can show me of Larry Bird being in a headlock underneath the basket, I can show you a montage video of him shooting open jumpers, of him coming off pindowns. I can show Steph the same way. … The idea that I'm disrespecting older players for questioning media narratives around that era, that's not disrespect.”
Th controversy began when JJ Redick was in a debate on First Take over Larry Bird's stature as a top-five shooter in NBA history with Chris “Mad Dog” Russo. Russo cited the physicality of the previous era in his argument as to why Larry Bird faced tougher defenses, to which Redick responded that the “physicality” argument doesn't apply in the top-five shooter debate.
He harped on the fact that defenses paid little attention to outside shooters back then given the lack of emphasis on the three-point shot as compared to how defenses track Steph Curry around the three-point line.
Whether you agree with his takes or not, JJ Redick isn't one to back down from some controversy. After his time at Duke as one of the most hated men in basketball, he's definitely heard worse.
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