Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick, in a recent press conference, touched on the criticism that the NBA has been facing, particularly in viewership and interest from the fans. “Fearless” host Jason Whitlock found his take on the issue to have a similar voice to WNBA star Caitlin Clark, whose statement also received major backlash.
In one of his videos, Jason Whitlock slammed JJ Redick for his comment on the decline of the NBA—how no one is “celebrating” the games now, and how people should “celebrate” the games and the league as a whole. Whitlcok even likened Redick’s take with recent statements from WNBA Rookie of The Year Caitlin Clark.
“No one is celebrating the game—cry me a river,” Whitlock said with a smirk. “He just went full Caitlin Clark, [saying] it’s my job to celebrate A’Ja [Wilson] and these black women that came before me and it’s [JJ Redick’s] job to celebrate the NBA. They can put whatever garbage product they want out there and it’s your job to celebrate and people should be celebrating.”
In her interview with TIME, Caitlin Clark touched on her “white privilege,” and her call for people to “elevate black women” of the WNBA.
Whitlock went on to cite issues that make it hard for fans to celebrate the NBA such as players getting paid too much, load management, and the recent changes to the All-Star game.
“The product isn’t as good, the officiating, the lack of defensive competitiveness, the lack of physicality, all the flopping—they’ve softened the game,” Whitlock added. “It’s the players and it’s what we tolerate. They don’t want to make the hard decision someone has to actually take care of the game and show real leadership.”
JJ Redick on “Too Many Threes” NBA Criticism: “It’s Points in The Paint”
One of the common criticisms of how games are played right now in the NBA is that too many people are shooting too many three-point shots. JJ Redick touched on this but attributed it to something else, rather than to a trend of players relying too much on shooting from beyond the arc.
“I checked this last year so don’t quote me on this,” he said. “But what has increased along with 3-point volume is points in the paint. So the 3 has allowed more space for people to actually score at the rim and score in the paint, so that’s the strategy.”
JJ Redick also touched on the issue of the nuance between cable and streaming, which he thinks makes it hard for people to watch NBA games nowadays.
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