The internet helped make JJ Redick the next Lakers coach. Now he’s unplugging

Lakers coach JJ Redick, listening to general manager Rob Pelinka address the media last week, became an internet sensation as a broadcaster and podcaster. Now he’s leaving that world behind. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

The place where JJ Redick wants to be, the basketball court, offers structure. The lines that mark the perimeter of the court differentiate between in bounds and out of bounds. The rules of the game make sure that craft is rewarded.

That place, the court, made Redick a star — the all-time leading scorer in Duke basketball history. It made him rich — nearly $118 million in salary earned from the Orlando Magic, Milwaukee Bucks, Clippers, Philadelphia 76ers, New Orleans Pelicans and Dallas Mavericks.

But that place didn’t lead Redick to the bench with the Lakers, at least not solely. The actual road that led Redick to the Lakers has been lined with coaxial cables, modems and Wi-Fi signals, and is painfully and, at times, beautifully structureless.

When the Lakers hired Redick as the 29th head coach in team history this spring, they got more than a former college star, more than a lottery pick who had to carve out a role as one of the league’s top shooters before becoming a valued veteran leader. They signed up for a partnership with a pioneer of basketball’s alternate realities of the internet.

But now, JJ Redick is ready to unplug.

“You will not see me tweet or post anything on IG,” Redick told The Times.

Read more: Will the Lakers ever trade their top draft picks? Rob Pelinka shares their strategy

He will no longer host any of the podcasts with his ThreeFourTwo Productions. He will not continue his basketball-strategy show, “Mind the Game,” with LeBron James. He will not interact with his 328,700-some-odd followers on X or post content for his 366,000 followers on Instagram.

He hasn’t posted on either since June.

“I think there are many benefits for social media and Twitter. The bandwidth that I have where I have to be … you have to understand this too, and I’ve talked with a number of my close friends who are head coaches, my bandwidth when you have the kids, there has to…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/internet-helped-jj-redick-next-100026093.html

Author : LA Times

Publish date : 2024-09-30 10:00:26

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.