JJ Redick and his family had a lovely summer after re-signing with the Sixers for another season. They spent time relaxing out in the Hamptons - "It's just a really chill sort of place" - mixed with some quality time at his Brooklyn home.
Redick took some time out of his relaxing summer to talk with ESPN NBA expert Zach Lowe on his podcast. The two cover a ton of interesting topics ranging from life on social media as an NBA star to the relationship between Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid and everything in between including how the Indiana Pacers offered him more money than Philly.
JJ is no longer on social media.
"I have this personality where I'm all in on something or I'm off of it," he said. "With social media, I've never felt completely comfortable with it."
So at some point during the offseason, he deleted all of his social accounts.
"Twitter has now just become a bunch of angry voices. That for me, I had to detach from there."
He's not wrong. I'd be curious of his take on Joel Embiid's social media presence.
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Some interesting nuggets from JJ below.
At 34 years old, is Redick's game no longer evolving?
"I think you can always improve around the edges," JJ said. He says there are three things he can work on that can be separators: 1. skills 2. body 3. motor/conditioning.
On the unique relationship between Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid
"As far as the relationship between them, I think it's great. They both are introverts. The media version of Jo and Jo off the court away from the cameras are two different people. Todd Wright told this great story of going back to Africa with Jo, seeing Jo around his family, playing board games with his cousins. I saw the true Jo. There's always going to be a bridge between those two guys and they're great at meeting in the middle. Brett [Brown] does a great job of connecting them. Ben is a family guy. He's with his family, the people he grew up with, his brother Sean [Tribe]. I've witnessed this now for 13 years, why do players have to be best friends with each other? I don't think it matters."
"Beyond the personality, vying for attention thing that every NBA player has to go through, there's the on-court and basketball fit. They are both unique talents and their skill sets. But Ben specifically you really have to surround him with shooting and allow him to just be who he is. And then find the balance with getting Joel the ball in the post. I think at times last year we were figuring that out on the fly and by the end of the season we figured that out. Those are the things the 76ers need to keep in mind as they build this team going forward."
Embiid's conditioning being key
"I think conditioning for him, taking care of his body, that's the whole key to him having a very, very long prime. If he's able to do that, I think he'll go down as one of the all-time great players."
On Markelle Fultz and intense media coverage
"By all accounts, he's been doing well [this summer]. He's the biggest question mark because we didn't get LeBron [James], Paul George, or Kawhi [Leonard]."
"What made me angry about [the media's coverage of Markelle last season], was the way people were covering him with cell phones," he said. "The body language, it was like they were vultures preying on a dying, decaying body. The kid was 19. He's clearly going through something. I got angry. I verbalized that anger and basically cussed them out. Then I calmed down and gave a better answer. That's my guy. He's my rookie. I was protective but also empathetic. Whatever he was going through physically or mentally, as an athlete, we've all been there."
On the Pacers offering him more money
"I had conversations with a few teams July 1 at midnight," he said. "The Indy thing came up. We were sort of waiting on LeBron. The Lakers were involved as well. There were a couple 2-3 year deals for less but they weren't as great of situations. The Indy deal was intriguing to me. I wouldn't have started but I fit what they needed. I envisioned playing two-man with [Domantas] Sabonis. He's really good."
"I took less to go to Philly. Not a lot, but less."
