On Tuesday, HBCU alumna and social entrepreneur Halleemah Nash took to her X account to allege that new Los Angeles Lakers coach JJ Redick called her a racial slur when both were students at Duke University. Although she didn't call Redick by name, she referenced him by his new position.

“I’ve only been called the N word to my face by a white man once in my life and it was on the campus of Duke University while I was doing work with the basketball team. And today he was named the new head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. What a world,” she tweeted, setting off a firestorm in the sports world.

She then took to her Twitter again following a significant reaction to her tweet, saying, “For context, this was years ago and I’m a believer that we all have space to grow- especially from our college level maturity. We live in a world where these exchanges happen and the intersection of race and privilege and lack of accountability all collided w/that presser”

JJ Redick's representatives spoke with TMZ to immediately refute the claims. “No, it never happened.”

Nash is a Howard University alumna, attending the institution to pursue her bachelor's in Business Management from 1998-2002 per her LinkedIn account. She pursued her postgraduate studies at Duke University from 2002 to 2005, culminating in the attainment of a Master of Divinity and a Certificate in Nonprofit Management.

Per her website, in which her bio is listed, Nash is a speaker, author, and social entrepreneur, is the Founder of Rosecrans Ventures, a startup that offers coaching and career readiness to underrepresented Gen Z talent. Before diving into entrepreneurship, Halleemah successfully managed various large-scale projects in roles such as Executive Director at iMentor, Executive Director of iF Charities, Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at Chicago Housing Authority, Youth Pastor at Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church, and Community Relations Manager at The Chicago Bulls.

As a consultant, she has spearheaded projects for Nike, the Chicago Blackhawks, The City of Compton Mayor’s Office, United Nations, Morgan Stanley, The City of Compton, Northwestern University, and celebrity brands such as Kobe Bryant, Common, Luol Deng, Joakim Noah, Nipsey Hussle, and Kendrick Lamar. With over 12 years of social impact work, she has created opportunities for more than 11,000 young individuals across 4 continents, 7 countries, and 9 states.

JJ Redick joined the Duke Blue Devils in 2002, ultimately becoming a standout for the team led by legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski. He was drafted by the Orlando Magic in 2006. Both Nash and Redick attended Duke from 2002-2005.