The basketball world applauded NBA analyst JJ Redick after his viral appearance on ESPN’s First Take where he ripped co-host Chris ‘Mad Dog’ Russo for his comments towards Draymond Green.
Russo said that Green should “shut up and play” and that “America is tired of Draymond Green” to which Redick responded with an epic rant on why Russo’s comments were out of line.
“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.”
We need more hoop analysts like JJ Redick. Bodied this conversation pic.twitter.com/mVMLH5aMsS
— Anthony Puccio (@APOOCH) May 4, 2022
Redick went on The Pat McAfee Show on Thursday to discuss the moment and why he decided to confront Russo on his comments.
"I had to push back against Mad Dog's comment about Draymond.. I don't like the thought that athletes aren't allowed to show emotion & talk shit" ~@jj_redick#PMSLive pic.twitter.com/B8rAz23dwu
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) May 5, 2022
“He made a comment in reference to Draymond that I really had to push back against,” Redick said. “In the aftermath, I walked back in the green room, and there was a moment where I was like oh s–t, this is probably going to go viral. It’s not my intention, but what he said in reference to Draymond was ‘shut up and play.’ Of course, we’ve all heard that in reference to athletes before.
“I do think there is a certain generation, I do think it is a little bit generational, that certain people are uncomfortable with athletes being outspoken. But the undertones of that and the connotation of that, that we’re meant strictly for your entertainment purposes, that we are to use our body strictly for your entertainment and we are not allowed to be human and show emotion and talk s–t, I just don’t like that at all.
“I think I gently – I could’ve went a little harder – pushed back at Mad Dog. We were fine after the segment, it was fine.”
Redick certainly garnered a ton of new fans for his comments towards Russo, especially from basketball fans who genuinely care what players have to say.
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.