Stephen A. Smith addressed the comments between JJ Redick and Charles Barkley.
The LA Lakers‘ head coaching job seems like a death trap. No matter how talented or tactical a coach might be, the team just doesn’t have the best roster makeup. The leadership hasn’t done a great job at assembling and maintaining a championship-caliber roster, despite having LeBron James and Anthony Davis on the team.
JJ Redick, a rookie head coach for the Lakers, is feeling the effects of that now. The Lakers don’t have enough talent or depth to win games, though they took a step forward by trading away D’Angelo Russell, yet Redick is expected to win a title.
However, Redick recently hit the headlines for a reason beyond the hardwood, but rather some of his comments made to the media.
Redick is well-spoken. He enjoyed a long NBA career and left quite a legacy in the spot of basketball as a player. He then entered the media, becoming one of the best personalities building the NBA through the media. Now, as a head coach, Redick has remained well-spoken.
However, a couple of times now, Redick has voiced frustration with the media surrounding the league. Most recently, his complaint lies with how the national media, rather than promoting and pushing the greatness of the league, tears down the product, which ultimately hurts viewership.
Redick didn’t name anyone who is causing this issue, but Charles Barkley made sure to respond on behalf of national media, as the Hall of Fame NBA player is key on TNT’s “Inside the NBA.”
“I heard JJ Redick said something about me,” Barkley said during the highlight package. “JJ, you better calm down because when you come for the king, you better not miss. He said something about we’re the reason people ain’t watching this crappy product we got. Us, like we’re out there jacking up 100 threes a night.”
The complaint didn’t stop there from Barkley. During one of the segments, he kept pushing on the matter.
“Remember, I got your Lakers games. You can’t hide them flaws they’ve got,” Barkley continued. “You just a dead man walking. They got rid of Frank Vogel, who did a good job. They got rid of Darvin Ham, who did a good job. You came out there thinking you was gonna change things with that same ugly girl you went on a date with. …
“… The Lakers stink. He came in there thinking, ‘I can make this thing work.’ Hell you can! Better put some makeup on that pig. The Lakers stink, man.”
While Redick’s interests are simply in bettering and furthering the league, Barkley took the statement as an attack, and he responded as such — attacking the Lakers head coach. For Redick, the comments also meant nothing to him.
“I didn’t make it all the way through the clip, I got to be honest with you,” Redick said. “My resting heart rate is probably 64 [beats per minute]. I watched the clip, it was 64. Literally don’t care. I have other thoughts, but don’t care.”
The interaction and shared words between the two big names in the NBA world has caught the attention of many across the scene. Most recently, popular ESPN pundit Stephen A. Smith weighed in on the matter, making his opinion known while hosting “The Stephen A. Smith Show.”
“The reality, JJ, is that sometimes, and I’m not talking about the Lakers, I’m talking about overall, sometimes we watch the game and it sucks,” Smith said.
“And here’s where JJ hurts himself… JJ knows that’s true.”
Smith is riding a popular opinion that many are claiming about the NBA. However, the national media primarily focuses on a few teams — those being the LA Lakers, Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors. Of those three teams, only one is a contender. The Lakers and Warriors are mediocre teams who get the spotlight because of their aging superstars.
The teams getting the most shine and spotlight are trying to emulate what good teams do well, which is shoot 3-pointers at high volume. They aren’t meant to do such with their roster makeup.
The Cleveland Cavaliers and Oklahoma City Thunder just put together one of the best regular season matchups in recent history. That’s what Redick is seeing across the league, and other big-name pundits won’t address that. The product in the NBA is still good when those are watching the best teams duel it out.
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