June 27, 2024
JJ Redick Denies Calling A Black Woman The N-Word While At Duke, ‘It Never Happened’
JJ Redick is denying claims made by a Black woman accusing him of calling her the N-word while he played at Duke University.
JJ Redick is denying claims made by a Black woman accusing him of calling her the N-word while he played at Duke University.
The NBA alum had members of his team shut down public accusations made by author, speaker, and Duke alum Halleemah Nash. The claims were made one day after Redick was introduced as the 29th head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Nash took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to recall her experience with Redick while they were both at Duke.
“I’ve only been called the N-word to my face by a white man once in my life, and it was on the campus of Duke University while I was doing work with the basketball team,” she wrote. “And today, he was named the new head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. What a world.”
The statement received mixed responses from onlookers, with some seemingly supporting Nash’s claims and others accusing her of trying to get Redick canceled ahead of starting his new role with the Lakers organization.
“A lot of people are too young to remember JJ at Duke, but those who can probably aren’t too shocked by this story,” one critic wrote.
“This didn’t come out in his 15-year NBA career. Why,” said one supporter.
“I’ll take “Things That Never Happened” for $500, Alex,” added someone else.
Shortly after Nash’s tweet sparked debate on social media, reps for Reddick attempted damage control by flat-out denying her claims.
“No, it never happened,” a spokesperson told TMZ.
However, according to the spouse of one former Duke student, the incident did happen, and higher-ups allegedly worked together to cover it up.
“I remember this story when it happened. My wife was a student at Duke when JJ was there,” one X user wrote. “Dude, campus STORIES. They just did a really good job of protecting him and not letting his BS get out.”
Redick has been under fire since being named as the Lakers’ new head coach due to his inexperience in the field. While Redick played in the NBA for 15 seasons, from 2006 to 2021, for six different teams, he had little to no coaching experience ahead of securing the top coaching position for a major NBA franchise.
However, Redick is confident that his 15 years playing basketball have prepared him for the coaching gig.
“I have zero coaching experience in the NBA,” Redick said during a press conference. “But I would argue that I’m very experienced. And it started 22 years ago when I went to Duke, and I got to play for Coach K for four years, spent 15 years as a player. Honestly, the last three years have been invaluable in preparing me for this moment.”
“Being able to connect to players, talking to them on the podcast, being in coaching interviews with ESPN, calling games, analyzing the game in three different formats. All of that has helped prepare me to be an NBA head coach,” he added.
Before joining the Lakers, Redick worked as an analyst during the NBA Finals for ESPN and hosted several podcasts, including Mind the Game with LeBron James, who is expected to stay with the Lakers and play for his friend/coach.