One day after a clip of Basketball Hall of Famer Charles Barkley ripping JJ Redick went viral, the Lakers coach issued his own rebuttal — with indifference.
“I didn’t make it all the way through the clip, I gotta be honest with you,” Redick said Friday before the Lakers played the Atlanta Hawks. “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.”
During highlights of Boston’s win against Minnesota, Barkley riffed on the Lakers’ coach after the number of three-point shots attempted (96) was mentioned.
“He said something about we’re the reason people ain’t watch this crappy product we got. Yeah, us, like we out there jacking up 100 threes a night. JJ, JJ, you come for the king, you better not miss. ‘Cause I can get you, brother, ‘cause I got your — remember, I got your Lakers games.”
There was more.
“You can’t hide them flaws they got. You just a dead man walking,” one of the NBA’s most forward-facing voices said. “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 were gonna change things with that same ugly girl you went on the date with.”
Barkley’s issues seemingly stemmed from comments Redick made two weeks ago when asked about the league’s decline in ratings.
“I don’t think we as, and by we, I was part of it, we as the sort of national partners have done a good job of storytelling, of celebrating the game. 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 gonna watch the product,” Redick said on Dec. 19.
“And that’s really what has happened over the last 10-15 years. I don’t know why. It’s not funny to me. Nothing is entertaining to me. This game should be celebrated. I’ve watched the league evolve. I’m in this league right now. I can tell you without fact, or with fact that the league is more talented and not just raw talent. 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.”
Redick didn’t mention any media members by name in his initial statement.
He said two Lakers assistants, Greg St. Jean and Beau Levesque, showed him the clip of Barkley’s comments.