“Who would you rather have? Who would win? Who is better?” These are all questions that the sports talk model is built on, and that doesn’t even tap into the Mount Rushmore debates.
Former NBA guard and current ESPN analyst JJ Redick has transitioned well to taking sides in these debates, becoming a more prominent sparring partner with Stephen A. Smith on First Take in recent months. But even Redick made the surprising admission that these questions are “ridiculous” while responding to a Twitter troll.
Earlier this week, Redick declared he was team Luka Dončić in a debate over the Mavericks point guard vs Steph Curry. That position surprised Stephen A. Smith and Patrick Beverley, while simultaneously angering Golden State Warriors fans. The seemingly mild hot take prompted one person to call Redick a “clown” for his opinion.
@jj_redick you‘re a 🤡 for that … @Sheridanblog @OnBallSteph @SbtaughtU
@urklespaces pic.twitter.com/Z4obj27YJ8— StillTheBest (@deUsch_og) May 17, 2022
Surprisingly, Redick chose to reply to @deUsch_og and his 48 followers on Twitter. I have to imagine Redick, a 15-year NBA veteran and prominent voice on ESPN, has seen much harsher criticism from trolls. But nonetheless, @deUsch_og triggered Redick enough to pass the blame on being team Luka.
Hey Chip. Don’t know if you know this or not…but on these shows they give you a ridiculous question- which this was- and then ask u to give an answer. Can’t pick both in an “or” question. Then you have to give reasons why to support your stance. That’s TV. https://t.co/LhMZNPARON
— JJ Redick (@jj_redick) May 17, 2022
“Hey Chip. Don’t know if you know this or not…but on these shows they give you a ridiculous question- which this was- and then ask u to give an answer. Can’t pick both in an ‘or’ question. Then you have to give reasons why to support your stance. That’s TV,” Redick wrote.
The most glaring aspect of Redick’s tweet is that he’s a two-spacer. That’s an infraction when typing anything, but even more so on Twitter where characters are at a premium. But is Redick backing down from his position? Claiming his argument was just for the show and blaming his Dončić opinion on First Take’s producers for making him answer this “ridiculous” question?
“We’re talking about right now, in 2022, who would you rather have with the ball, with the game on the line? It’s clearly Luka Dončić,” Redick said on First Take.
That’s not a bad or controversial opinion. Dončić carried the Dallas Mavericks to the Western Conference Finals, and he’s a more than a decade younger than Curry. He’s not the historically great shooter Curry is, but with Dončić’s 6’7” frame, he’s better at creating his own shot than the Warriors’ guard.
It’s kind of bizarre to see Redick soften his stance so quickly after getting called “clown” by one nameless, faceless troll. I know First Take has a plethora of “ridiculous questions” and even more ridiculous opinions, but this one just didn’t seem to reach that level.
But don’t let Redick fool you. Despite being forced to answer ridiculous questions, the former NBA sharpshooter recently admitted First Take is his favorite job at ESPN.
“I thought it would be the show that I hated doing the most. It’s actually my favorite show to do,” Redick said during a recent episode of his podcast The Old Man and the Three with ESPN NBA analyst Tim Legler. “The show is structured around a debate-style show. When you were on, that was one of the most enjoyable experiences I’ve had in media because we just got to talk about basketball for almost 2 hours. It was great.”
