Lower than 48 hours into his tenure as head coach of the Lakers, JJ Redick is already dealing with controversy.
Redick was a star basketball participant at Duke earlier than his 15-year profession within the NBA.
Halleemah Nash, who’s an writer, speaker, and Duke alum took to X with an allegation in opposition to Redick.
“I’ve solely been referred to as the N phrase to my face by a white man as soon as in my life and it was on the campus of Duke College whereas I used to be doing work with the basketball crew,” she mentioned. “And at this time he was named the brand new head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. What a world.”
Redick and his individuals have flat out denied the allegation.
TMZ Sports activities reached out to him for a response and a spokesperson instructed the outlet, “No, it by no means occurred”.
Redick has by no means coached within the NBA and retired from the league in 2021.
He began working as an NBA analyst for ESPN shortly after and was the lead analyst for the 2024 NBA Finals on ABC.
“This course of has been surreal, to say the least,” Redick mentioned. “I take this duty very critically … The Lakers have a number of the most passionate followers world wide, and the expectation is a championship, and so it’s my job to ship a championship-caliber crew. That’s what I signed up for.
“I simply felt like that is what I’m presupposed to be doing. I’ve zero teaching expertise within the NBA, however I might argue that I’m very skilled. It began 22 years in the past after I went to Duke.”
Redick already confirmed that the podcast that he and LeBron James began collectively won’t be persevering with as he takes on probably the most tough teaching jobs within the NBA.
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