LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles Lakers coach JJ Redick said he was unfazed by TNT analyst Charles Barkley’s criticism of the Lakers coach when asked about it Friday ahead of Los Angeles’ home matchup with the Atlanta Hawks.
“I read a random text from somebody after the game,” Redick said. “I went to look at my phone and it says something about Charles Barkley. And I’m like, ‘Huh?’ … I didn’t make it all the way through the clip, I gotta be honest with you. My resting heart rate is probably 64. I watched the clip, it was 64. Literally don’t care. I have other thoughts, but don’t care.”
On Thursday, while TNT host Ernie Johnson Jr. voiced the highlights of the Boston Celtics’ 118-115 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves, Barkley took a chance to respond to Redick’s recent criticism of how national media covers the NBA.
“He said something about, ‘We’re the reasons people ain’t watching this crappy product we got.’ I said, ‘Us?’ Like we out there jacking up a hundred 3s a night,” Barkley said. “JJ (Redick), you come for the king you better not miss, because I can get you, brother. Remember, I got your Lakers’ games. You can’t hide them flaws they got. You just a dead man walking. They got rid of (former coach) Frank Vogel, who did a good job. They got rid of (former coach) Darvin Ham, who did a good job. But you came out there thinking you were 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. Put some makeup on that pig. … The Lakers stink, man. C’mon, man.”
Two weeks prior, Redick was asked about the discourse surrounding the NBA’s declining TV ratings and pointed to the league and game not being celebrated enough.
“I don’t think we … have done a good job of storytelling, of celebrating the game,” Redick said on Dec. 19 in Sacramento. “If I’m a casual fan and you tell me every time I turn on the television that the product sucks, well, I’m not going to watch the product. And that’s really what has happened over the last 10 to 15 years. I don’t know why. It’s not funny to me.”
While Redick didn’t specify which voices he was referring to, the celebrated former players on TNT’s “Inside the NBA” — Kenny Smith, Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal — are often cited as the most prominent critics among the league’s partners.
“This game should be celebrated,” Redick said in Sacramento. “The league is more talented and skilled than it was 18 years ago when I was drafted. That’s a fact. There are more players that are excellent. There are more teams that are excellent. … We don’t have anybody that’s willing to step up to the fact that this is an awesome game and we should talk about it and celebrate it in a positive way. That doesn’t mean we don’t critique it. We should critique it, but we should celebrate it. Nobody’s doing that, and the people that are have a small niche following on Twitter.”
Before being hired by the Lakers in late June of 2024, Redick was an ESPN analyst and a podcast host after the 15-year NBA veteran retired in 2021.
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(Photo: Darren Yamashita / Imagn Images)
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