Just as he was as a player at Duke, JJ Redick has been a lightning rod in the NBA media world.
From the time he joined ESPN to launching a podcast with LeBron James this season, Redick has not been afraid to lock horns with his media elders or take the sports media to task.
And he knows it makes him off-putting to some.
In an interview on The Pivot podcast released Tuesday, Redick was asked to respond to critics like his former Ringer boss Bill Simmons, who believe he talks down to his audience or dislike his point of view as an analyst.
“As far as the haters, I don’t f***ing care, dude,” Redick answered after defending the balance he strives for between conversation and Xs and Os. “I may come across as condescending sometimes, I don’t care about that either. I don’t. I don’t care what people’s perception of me is. I know who I am … I know how much I love the sport of basketball. So it actually, truthfully, doesn’t bother me.”
Redick explained that he takes solace in the freedom of being independent with Mind the Game and his Old Man and the Three show, which he launched through his ThreeFourTwo Productions company.
“When you are in this world of content, the only thing that matters to me is did I make good content,” Redick added. “Don’t worry about how many views you get, don’t worry about if something goes viral. I don’t care about that. Is it good content, can I go to sleep at night being like, ‘Did I make a good podcast?'”
One such viral moment came this season when Redick called out his former coach Doc Rivers on First Take for making excuses for his teams falling short and then proceeded to call out basketball fans for responding more strongly to that quote than his more analytical content.
Redick said on The Pivot he regrets the tone of that criticism of Rivers but sees it as his job to give strong NBA takes on First Take.
Regardless of how you feel about Redick, he doesn’t shy away from his detractors or explaining himself.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.