JJ Redick has already denied accusations of using the N-word, but if they’re true, Chris Broussard believes he could lose his job with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Redick was formally introduced as head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers Monday afternoon, departing his NBA analyst job with ESPN to replace Darvin Ham. One day after his introductory press conference, Halleemah Nash, an author, speaker and founder of startup Rosecrans Ventures, claimed Redick called her the N-word while he was a student athlete at Duke.
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.
— Halleemah Nash (@halleemah) June 25, 2024
“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,” Nash wrote on X.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the post by Nash has nearly 27 million views. In response to the allegations, a spokesperson for Redick told TMZ, “No, it never happened.”
Nash later offered more context on the alleged incident, writing, “This was years ago and Im a believer that we all have space to grow – especially from our college level maturity.”
In the wake of those accusations that Redick used the N-word while at Duke more than a decade ago, FS1 host Chris Broussard invited Nash on his Fox Sports Radio show. According to Broussard, Nash did not want to do any media at this time and expressed surprise over the allegation against Redick gaining as much attention as it did. Despite her surprise, Broussard suggested Redick could lose his job with the Lakers if the claim was proven true.
“JJ Redick better not be lying, or whoever spoke for him better not be lying. I mean it would be bad enough if you did it,” Broussard said. “But if it comes out and you have two people making claims, I don’t know who is right or who is telling the truth, but I’m just saying, JJ better not be lying. Because if it comes out… and then you deny it, that very well might cost him his job.”
Broussard noted that if the accusations were true, there may have been a path to reconciliation for Redick considering the alleged incident took place around 20 years ago. But Broussard also added it would still depend on how the locker room would respond to the incident.
“He says it didn’t happen, or his people say it didn’t happen,” Broussard continued. “We will see, but he better not be lying. That’s my main thing. He better not be lying.”
