The Vertical W/ JJ Redick

Angelica Yaghoubi

Rowan Kavner  Digital Content Coordinator

LOS ANGELES – Not even a day had passed for J.J. Redick between the Game 6 loss and the taping of his podcast the next morning with Jamal Crawford.

All of the feelings and emotions that came along with the loss that ended the Clippers’ season still lingered, and the two players spoke candidly about the game, the season and moving forward on Redick’s “The Vertical Podcast,” which aired Monday.

“It was one of the most emotional locker rooms that I’ve seen,” Crawford said. “People you didn’t expect to cry, it was like all that was coming out. We literally poured our blood, sweat and tears on that court. It was an amazing feeling, because we all felt the same way. It kind of took over the whole room.”

Crawford said he was at a loss for words to see veterans such as Paul Pierce crying and to hear head coach Doc Rivers and owner Steve Ballmer choked up. This all came before the postgame media availability, but even then, long after the game had ended, the emotions were still heavy.

Redick said he felt like the whole season was an emotional rollercoaster.

“It feels like to me, personally, maybe I repressed those emotions,” Redick said. “And I think maybe other guys repressed their emotions for the season.”

After Game 6, it all came out. Crawford said he broke down on the way home from the game just looking out the window. As soon as Redick went back to the postgame locker room, he said he needed to take some time for himself.

“I think it says a lot about the togetherness of the group when there’s that collective emotion,” Redick said.

Check out the podcast to hear everything the two players discussed, but here were some of the highlights.

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Redick, Crawford Discuss Emotional Year On Podcast

laclkay

BOSTON – J.J. Redicks brought on Steve Nash and teammate Jamal Crawford for his second edition of “The Vertical Podcast.”

Some of the topics included each of their lists of the top four point guards of all time, the inspiration behind Redick’s tattoos, the upcoming 3-point contest, basketball in Canada and much more.

Redick said he wanted a tattoo sleeve on his left arm for four or five years and decided he’d finally go through with it. He wanted something representing his Christianity, and he went with a tattoo of a winged man for the Book of Matthew, a winged lion for the Book of Mark, a winged ox for the Book of Luke and an eagle for the Book of John.

Once he decided what he wanted, he needed to actually get it done. Redick said he bumped into Adam Levine on a golf course in Cabo and asked where he got his tattoos. He went to the same person once getting the OK from his wife, who supported the sleeve idea.

Redick went through three sessions during the season – about 14 hours of work – and said he still needs about an hour more for fill-ins to finish it off.

After talking about being more serious this time around at the 3-point contest, he brought on Nash, who’s now a player development consultant for the Warriors and the general manager of the Canadian national team following his illustrious career, which included two MVPs.

Nash said he the last few years of his career, he might not have loved the game as much, but he still loved challenging himself every day and loved the preparation and pushing past what’s expected. Nash said as much as he loves and appreciates the game still, he’s not one to continue going to the gym and putting up shots.

That won’t be the case for Crawford whenever he retires.

“The day I retire from playing in the NBA, I’ll be playing at LA Fitness the next day,” Crawford said.

Redick, Nash and Crawford all gave their answers for their personal top four point guards of all-time.

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Redick Has Nash, Crawford On Latest Podcast

Robyn Dixon

PLAYA VISTA, Calif. – J.J. Redick debuted his first podcast for “The Vertical Podcast with J.J. Redick” on Monday after recording it Sunday night following the Clippers’ win against the Bulls.

Redick’s the first active NBA player to create his own weekly show during the regular season, and the podcast is part of Yahoo Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski’s new podcast. For his first show, Redick had on former teammate Jared Dudley, who’s now with the Wizards.

The two players addressed both on and off court topics, something he plans to do regularly with the show. Some of the topics included the differences from team to team in practices and shootarounds, how fit matters in the NBA, Dudley’s time with the Clippers and his stops since then, his “four most overrated things” and much more in nearly an hour of time.

One of the best discussions came when Redick and Dudley described the biggest All-Star snub. Redick didn’t want to be a homer, so he named Damian Lillard and said he thinks the All-Star Game should expand, with each conference getting 15 All-Stars.

“He’s sixth in the league in scoring,” Redick explained for his choice, “and they’re right there for the eighth seed.”

Dudley decided to stick with the Clippers for his answer.

“Winning should matter, and I’m not just saying this because you’re on the phone, but what about DeAndre Jordan?” Dudley asked. “When we played against him, just how he can dominate the paint. If you guys don’t have DeAndre Jordan on your team… I mean, the way he rebounds the basketball, the way he defends where you guys can pressure pick-and-roll and be aggressive…what does he have to do to become an All-Star?”

Redick said he thinks if the Clippers had a record like the Spurs or Warriors at the midway point in the year, “there’s no question” Jordan would’ve been in, and he believes Jordan will be an All-Star at some point in his career.

Head coach Doc Rivers said before practice Tuesday he trusts Redick to have a weekly show but joked that wouldn’t be the case for every player on the team.

“You don’t worry about it,” Rivers said. “I do think this is something he wants to do post-career. I’m a big believer if this is something he wants to do, he should get the practice and do it.”

Afterward, Redick then talked about the debut of his podcast.

JJ: “It was a lot of fun. Jared was a very easy guest to have on as my first podcast guest because he’s a great talker. I wanted to record a mock episode last week and use it for later if it would be good, but we never got the chance to do it. It was kind of a first-time thing that I did with Jared on Sunday night. I was happy with it. I see some room for improvement in certain areas, but I think the flow was pretty good.”

JJ: “I have a friend in the Detroit front office who’s my harshest critic in everything in life. So, he sent me like 20 things, pros and cons. I think the thing I was disappointed about that he pointed out – I missed a golden opportunity to talk about one of my favorite characters in the NBA, and that’s (Marcin) Gortat. Gortat is…he’s something. Jared and I should’ve traded stories on that. I’m sure I’ll have a guest on at some point that’s also played with Marcin.”

JJ: “That was the only option. They wanted it to be a weekly thing, so I signed up for 52 weeks. It wasn’t just going to be an offseason thing for three or four months. The original idea was to write some things for The Vertical website. I wasn’t necessarily against that, but I think the podcast idea was something new and something that hadn’t really been done for a current NBA player.”

Do you see yourself doing this after playing days?

JJ: “The way I see it is that I have nothing to lose. If people like it, great. If people don’t like it, OK. My priorities are to be a basketball player. That’s my only concern.

Any more questions you can direct to @jjredick. You can also go on iTunes and write a review with any comments or questions.”

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Redick On His Podcast Debut

LOS ANGELES – J.J. Redick is now a pioneer.

The Clippers’ starting shooting guard is the first active NBA player to create his own weekly show during the regular season with a new podcast he’s now hosting.

“I’d never listened to a podcast in my life prior to December,” Redick said Wednesday. “They approached me, and this is something I’m interested in post-career.”

Redick will host “The Vertical Podcast with J.J. Redick” as part of Yahoo Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski’s “The Vertical Podcast with Woj” and will publish new episodes each Tuesday.

“Woj is someone that I’ve known for a long time,” Redick said. “I’m excited to work under his platform.”

The podcast won’t just be about basketball, though that will obviously play a part. Redick said the podcasts will mostly be in real-time, and he’s going to record two this weekend.

“So we’ll discuss the Chicago game,” Redick said, when asked if he’d discuss the back-to-back wins.

The podcast will be launched by DGital Media , a creator of high quality audio entertainment in sports, entertainment, business and politics, as well as Yahoo Sports. In addition to the regularly weekly show, there will also be regular breaking news reports throughout the year.

According to a release, the goal is to bring a lineup of guests “that will bring fans of all sports closer to the weekly goings-on in the NBA than ever before.” The podcast will be available on iTunes, Stitcher and TuneIn.

“We don’t think there can be more of a unique offering than a weekly look into the goings-on of an NBA season through the eyes and words of one of its more seasoned veterans, said Chris Corcoran, chief content officer of DGital Media, in a news release. “’The Vertical Podcast with J.J. Redick won’t just be about basketball; it will give fans a great listen into the storytelling narrative of an elite athlete living and playing in Los Angeles, whose background appeals to such a wide audience.”

Redick’s currently enjoying the best statistical season of his career, posting career highs with a 48.4 shooting percentage and a 48.5 3-point percentage while averaging 16.4 points per game for the second straight year. 

The Vertical W/ JJ Redick

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