Former NBA guard JJ Redick is one of the most sought-after analysts in today’s basketball world. His opinions are not only cherished by fans but by many NBA stars as well. However, that wasn’t always the case. Despite being a role player throughout his NBA career, the Duke alumnus was a bonafide star in college. He set numerous records during his time as a Blue Devil but he also found himself the victim of unprecedented hate. The 39-year-old opened up about how he had to seek therapy because of his haters.

In a recent interview with DraftKings, one of the hosts asked Redick, “You started off as a ‘villain’…everybody hated you. You know, you was that guy when you step in the gym they wanted to shut your game down. Then you are turned into the ‘beloved’… an ‘elder statesman’ with your podcast, analyst…now you are ‘beloved…how do you feel?”

The former Orlando Magic guard smiled and said, “I still have my haters…I’m comfortable with it. You know, you’re not comfortable with it when you’re nineteen…your ego structure is not sound. Required a lot of therapy when I was in Duke, to be honest with you.” Redick then stated that after growing as a player, one gets past that point eventually and then, “It just f***ing doesn’t matter.”

Towards the end of the same interview, Redick added, “If you said to me right now, ‘You’re still a villain’, I’d be like ‘Okay.’” He explained that in his job as a media personality now, he has to be in tune with the audience for him to be good at his job. He emphasized that he had moved past being a ‘Villain’ or ‘beloved’ around 15-16 years ago. Redick ended the conversation with, “It’s not a part of my life anymore, but thanks for bringing it up.”

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JJ Redick was THE star at Duke

During his time at Duke (2003-2006), JJ Redick was one of the most popular college players in the country. He is the program’s all-time leader with 2,769 points. Redick is a 2x ACC Player of the Year (2005, ’06) and was also the ACC career leader with 457 made 3-pointers. However, he always drew strong hate from basketball fans for no particular reason. Many claim that people did not like his ‘three-point’ game style or just thought he was ‘too perfect’.

Nonetheless, people started treating the young Duke shooting guard like a villain. Redick continued to perform well and eventually got drafted into the NBA after college but the constant hate from fans definitely did take a toll on Redick’s mental health when he was at Duke. What are your thoughts on JJ Redick’s “Villain” era? Let us know in the comments below!

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