Photo: Slaven Vlasic
Jason Whitlock: “JJ Redick wants to be an NBA head coach and he wants Black players, star black players to think of him the same way they allegedly think of Steve Kerr, who plays ‘woke’, and does all these correct talking points, ‘Black Lives Matter’, and all that other stuff. This is a gimmick that JJ Redick is using trying to secure the bag, trying to secure a head coaching job in Toronto. ‘Let me go out here and say things I don't really believe and know are nonsensical, but this is what I have to do to pander to these Black athletes so that when I go in there as the coach they know I'm on their side. I'll back them up on their stupidity.’ This is a gimmick to put himself in a better position to get a head coaching job in the NBA.” (Full Segment Above)
Watch Jason Whitlock of ‘Fearless’ call out former NBA player JJ Redick for his recent rant against those critical of Ja Morant’s off-the-court gun issues, as Whitlock says Redick putting on an embellished ‘woke’ gimmick to make him a more popular candidate for an NBA coaching job.
Redick was reportedly tied to the Toronto Raptors coaching search in the wake of Nick Nurse’s firing, and the 38-year-old could potentially follow a recent trend of former players becoming head coaches almost immediately after retiring.
Whitlock took exception to Redick’s impassioned defense of Morant last week, which included potshots at Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R), and Tennessee congressman Andy Ogles (R), saying Redick is trying so hard to come off as the ‘cool White boy’ who supports Black NBA players facing discipline from the league.
Here was Whitlock’s full reaction to Redick’s pro-Morant tirade:
Jason Whitlock: “It’s great that you played basketball at Duke with some Black teammates, great you had a nice long NBA career with a lot of Black teammates, it's great that you socialize with some of the most elite, well-off, and protected Black people on the planet... That's awesome, JJ, don't really want to ridicule you or belittle you, but you sound like an idiot. What Ja Morant is doing is putting himself in harm's way and he's putting other people in harm's way. Him using and treating a gun as a toy, a prop, and an accessory is putting Ja Morant in harm's way. When a police officer eventually pulls Ja Morant over in a car because of all the videos, because the way Ja Morant has portrayed himself, that policeman is going to be very suspicious of Ja Morant. Does he have a gun? Is he drunk or high? Does he plan on playing or flashing that gun the way I've seen him do in videos? If it doesn't get Ja Morant harmed maybe it'll get that policeman harmed. Maybe it'll get a passenger in the car harmed. Let's suppose Ja Morant being 23, goes to a club in Memphis or anywhere, and gets in a dispute, an argument, an altercation with someone who's really about that life? That person who's really about that life is like ‘this is Ja Morant, he carries a gun… Well, I happen to carry a gun. Ja Morant pretends to be about that life. I'm going to pull out this gun and use it on Ja Morant because he could potentially use it against me.’ Ja Morant is a walking billboard advertisement of ‘I want some type of gun violence drama to happen with me.’ He is sowing the seeds for that type of violence and misbehavior that we know is commonplace in Memphis, in Black communities, in urban areas— we know it's commonplace and so we're watching a child play with fire. Watching a child put his hand on a hot stove over, and over, and over again, and we don't need JJ Redick for likes, clicks, retweets, social media clout, television ratings; we don't need JJ Redick on TV trying to build his profile and brand of ‘I'm the number one ally to all these idiots.’ We don't need that, JJ Redick, because there are people that are actually out here saying ‘hey JJ, hey Ja, this behavior may end up getting you, someone close to you, or someone you don't know, hurt, and that's why people are calling for Ja Morant to be disciplined harshly to cut out this behavior.' Greg Abbott telling people in Texas to arm themselves and use their Second Amendment rights; there is no clear-cut connection between that behavior and these mass shootings that you love to talk about. There's no clear-cut connection. There's actual political and real justification for Greg Abbott telling his citizens ‘arm yourself, use guns legally, protect yourself from this tyrannical government, the founders wanted you armed, they wanted the government to fear you.’ The politicians using guns in their Christmas cards— if you can show me a clear connection between those Christmas cards and violence in the hood, in the suburbs, ANYWHERE, not something you pull out of your rear end and speculate about. Across the street from me right here in Nashville, I can walk from my very expensive apartment building without losing my breath, and without any effort to a place right across the street from me where there's been at least three murders in the short time that I've lived here, and several shootings at this one particular nightclub. There's one particular demographic involved in every one of those shootings. Those guys take their cues from people like Ja Morant. Whoever sent out the Christmas card they know nothing about. Their behavior is not connected to whoever sent out those Christmas cards. I get it, everybody wants to be the most ‘down’ White guy in the world, and wants to be the most ‘down’ White guy connected to NBA players, and I'm sure all the NBA players are celebrating ‘YEAH, JJ! HE’S A REAL ONE! KEPT IT REAL FOR JA!’ Nah, man, if you really want some clout I would love to go back and see— what did JJ Redick have to say about Kyrie Irving when he was getting beat up over a movie poster? You want to keep it real and show how 'down' you are for the Black man? Stand up for Kyrie Irving when he was catching heat over NOTHING. A movie poster about Black people or Jewish people's history. This smells like a gimmick to me. Everybody wants to be the cool White boy, and this is your turn to be the cool White boy and get some points back from when you beat up on Stephen A. Smith and people got upset with you. Now you got some cool points, you defended Ja Morant and everybody waving a gun. Good job, JJ Redick… Sellout.” (Full Segment Above)
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