The NBA world has been singing the praises of ESPN analyst JJ Redick following his comments towards Chris ‘Mad Dog’ Russo on Wednesday’s edition of First Take.
Russo blasted Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green after Green flipped the double bird to Memphis Grizzlies fans while heading to the locker room after getting injured by an errant elbow from Xavier Tillman.
Draymond with a message on his way to the locker room. pic.twitter.com/ftIvSS00JE
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) May 4, 2022
The gesture by Green may have been a bit much, but Russo laid into Green’s character, saying that the Warriors star should “shut up and dribble” and that “America is tired of Draymond Green.”
Redick took exception to Russo, blasting his comments and comparing them to past anti-player speech rhetoric from Fox News host Laura Ingraham, who caught a ton of controversy for her comments toward LeBron James in 2018 when she said he should “shut up and dribble.”
“This has the same kind of connotations that the shut up and dribble crowd has toward athletes,” said Redick. “I have a real problem with that. Specifically, with Draymond and the idea that America is tired of him, You do realize that the guy has a very popular podcast that he hosts where he talks himself for the majority of the episode and people listen to that.”
“The reason that people want to hear what Draymond has to say is because just like in this press conference he is real, authentic, and unfiltered. And as a player, he is real, authentic, and unfiltered. The edge that he plays with is what makes him great. It’s what makes him a future Hall of Famer. You can’t take away what makes a player great, so there is no shut up and play.”
Green has since seen the viral clip of Redick embarrassing Russo, and certainly appreciated Redick having his back, commenting “JJ sent the clown back to the Circus!”
JJ sent the clown back to the Circus! https://t.co/VtTaPFkqYh
— Draymond Green (@Money23Green) May 4, 2022
While Green will almost certainly receive a fine for his actions, it almost has to be worth it for him to see his friend Redick, who has been on multiple editions of Green’s podcast completely own Russo on national television on his behalf.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.