Source: Robert Gauthier / Getty
The Los Angeles Lakers made a big splash when they announced that retired-baller-turned-podcaster-slash-talking head JJ Redick will be their new head coach. Redick upped his profile over the past few years by appearing on ESPN’s First Take to butt heads with Stephen A. Smith and using his voice to defend players and push back against tired narratives. JJ seemed to be well-liked.
That might have changed a bit.
i asked @jj_redick what misconceptions about him he’s most looking to disproving. his answer had a lot of confidence and a lot of 4 letter words pic.twitter.com/79eBdNnsXi
— claire de lune (@ClaireMPLS) June 24, 2024
Following his F-bomb-laden introductory press conference, Redick was reminded that things that has “allegedly” said in the past can and will be used against him in the court of public opinion. Back in 2014, BOSSIP reported on leaked emails that supposedly showed JJ calling his then-pregnant girlfriend Vanessa Lopez a “dirty ni**er” and a “stupid sp*c”.
Another party who alleges to have suffered JJ’s racist wrath is a Black woman named Halleemah Nash, an alumnus of Howard University and Duke University, who took to Twitter accusing Redick of calling her “ni**er”.
I’ve only been called the N word to my face by a white man once in my life and it was on the campus of Duke University while I was doing work with the basketball team. And today he was named the new head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. What a world.
— Halleemah Nash (@halleemah) June 25, 2024
Although he hasn’t spoken publicly about the allegations, TMZ spoke to a spokesperson inside Redick’s team and they succinctly deny the allegation saying, “No, it never happened.”
One might think that such a denial would be a bit more…verbose considering the gravity of the accusations but for now, that’s all we get. Depending on how loud this narrative becomes, JJ might be forced to address it head-on if he doesn’t want to go the way of disgraced ex-Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling.
Source: bossip