JJ Redick always fought
He fought back the taunts ACC crowds poured on him as he became one of the best — and most hated — players in college basketball history.
He fought the idea that his game wouldn’t translate to the pros, that the early season struggles wouldn’t be indicative of who he might become. He battled to become one of the best role players in the league, and then battled time and an aging body to stay there.
In retirement from the sport, he fought against complacency. He has stayed busy as a podcaster, entrepreneur and broadcaster.
But early last spring, Redick decided it was time to stop fighting. It was time to give up.
“At some point you just have to listen to your soul and not be afraid of the consequences of whatever happens next,” Redick told the Times. “You just have to go for it I guess.”
And so, Redick decided. He had listened to his soul. He didn’t just do it wants to train in the NBA.
He needed
On Tuesday night after the Lakers beat the Timberwolves 110-103, Redick stood in the hallway with his hair still damp from the celebratory bath his players gave him in the locker room. There was no doubt. This is where he had to be.
But, to be fair, that would have been regardless.
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“I would say every day has reinforced that,” Redick said. “That’s the honest truth. From the first day of real work until now, every day has been amazing. That is the fact.”
Before the Lakers opener on Tuesday, a game they won with precision and execution more than they did with shot creation, Redick recommitted to separating the work from the results.
“Yes, I will not be caught in the outcome. It’s a long season. We’ve talked since day one about the process,” Redick said before the game. “And there were things we emphasized this morning that we know we have to do to compete with Minnesota. And if we do those things, we can improve and learn and grow. We would all like to win. I would like to go 82-0. But I basically just can’t get caught up in wins and losses. It will drive me crazy if we lose. I’ll tell you that.
“But this will be a great growth opportunity for us against this team if we can do the things we’ve been emphasizing over the last three days.”
Tuesday, they did.
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While the emphasis on three-point shooting dominated discussions around the team in the preseason, they made just 5 of 30 on opening night. However, the threat of shooting, combined with organized cutting and spacing, got the Lakers multiple easy baskets.
“The game plan, the schemes he had on both ends of the floor, he trusts us,” Anthony Davis said. “We trust him as much as he teaches us what he wants us to do on the floor on both ends and it’s our job to go execute it. I think we were very ready tonight.”
Davis benefited more than anyone Tuesday, leading the Lakers in minutes, field goal attempts, points, rebounds and blocks.
“AD was phenomenal tonight,” Redick said. “It felt like he attacked the game the right way.”
The new Lakers coach also navigated the most anticipated replacement of the year, putting LeBron and Bronny James into the game together in the second quarter for a short, three-minute stint.
“In the fight of competition, I was wondering during a dead ball why everyone started cheering so loudly and then I realized what was happening and I was like, ‘Oh, that’s great.’ That’s great,’” Redick said. “We felt that with the feel of the game we could play those last few minutes with those two guys together – [Austin Reaves] was on the floor, AD was on the floor, obviously LeBron was on the floor – it presented an opportunity for Bronny.
“He played well, he competed during preseason, just to give him a chance to start it in a regular season game.”
In Redick’s eyes, Tuesday was about the players — about Davis’ dominance and Rui Hachimura’s strength and Austin Reaves’ hustle and D’Angelo Russell’s timely play. And not about him.
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He said as much before the game.
“I think whatever I envisioned in my previous life is gone. This is who I am now. I’m a coach. And so I don’t feel like tonight is about me at all. It’s about our team,” he said.
But as his usually styled hair began to dry late Tuesday night, Redick remembered when his identity flipped. It was before his last season even ended, before the Lakers had a vacancy, before his work as a broadcaster ended. His conversations with his performance coach, they know everyone was focused on one thing.
“Every session, we talked about it,” Redick told the Times. “At that moment, I just said, ‘This is what I have to do now.’ This is who I am.’”
His soul spoke to him. And it didn’t take a win Tuesday for Redick to be glad he decided to listen.
But it sure didn’t hurt either.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
