ESPN analyst JJ Redick became the talk of sports media after his exchange with Chris “Mad Dog” Russo on First Take this week.
Redick checked Russo for comments the sports radio legend made about Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green.
On The Team 980 in D.C., host Reese Waters continued his weekly “Racist of the Week” segment, touching on those who culturally appropriate Mexicans on Cinco de Mayo. But he brought Redick up immediately after and awarded the former Duke standout his “Anti-Racist of the Week.”
“Nobody makes progress on their own, we are not the majority,” Waters said. “So allyship is very, very important. And for JJ Redick to be able to see that and to call that out, I find to be admirable. And amazingly surprising considering how I felt about JJ Redick, I don’t know, 10 years ago.”
During his time in college, Redick was one of the most hated players in the country. He was routinely listed amongst the least favorite or most annoying by anyone that wasn’t a Duke fan. Waters began the segment by identifying himself as a Maryland Terapins fan, a team that had an intense rivalry with Duke during Redick’s time on campus.
On Wednesday, Russo made the point that players like Draymond act and carry themselves differently than greats of the game that played in the 1960s and 1970s. He said that he wished Green would “just shup up and play.” Waters said the eras can’t even begin to be compared.
“Let’s be realistic in the fact that that bygone era was a completely different culture, and we have evolved to a place of at least attempting to see these athletes as human beings and giving them agency over not only their careers, but their bodies and their selves and their lives,” he said.
Waters praised Redick for speaking up on First Take this week. The Team 980 midday host said it goes deeper than having the opinion that athletes aren’t allowed to express opinions on anything other than the game they play.
“I have to sit back all the time and listen to people try and make the argument that life was so much better back in the day,” he said. “It is the attempt to try and talk around the fact that we, in many cases, strike back against the athlete that is fully grown into his agency. And we see that in Draymond Green.”