JJ Redick Rips Media’s Obsession With the LA Lakers After Colleague Lauds Their ‘Terrific’ Play in Series Where They Lost Every Game

Ahmad Austin Jr.May 23rd, 2023, 1:53 pm
 

ESPN’s JJ Redick believes the media has failed to properly market the entirety of the NBA in favor of focusing on a handful of teams.

On Tuesday’s episode of First Take, the crew discussed the idea of it being “bad for the NBA” if both the Lakers and Celtics got swept in the conference finals. The franchises are currently tied for the most championships in league history with 17 apiece, and their matchup in the NBA Finals would have renewed a storied rivalry.

That never came to be after the Lakers were swept by the Denver Nuggets on Monday and the Celtics were also facing a sweep as they trailed 3-0 to the Miami Heat.

Instead of focusing on the Nuggets reaching the Finals for the first time in their history, or the Heat on the brink of clinching their Finals berth with a team composed largely of undrafted players, the media’s attention on Tuesday was still on the Lakers.

Redick argued it would be a good thing for the Lakers and Celtics to be out of the championship picture.

“We somehow have sold the NBA as a league where only five or six teams matter and a league where only five or six players matter,” Redick said. “To me, this could be a watershed moment for the NBA. To me, this could be the best thing possible for the NBA and its fans because we have not done a good job of selling the rest of the NBA.”

Earlier on First Take, Brian Windhorst even called the Lakers’ effort “terrific” after losing four straight to the Nuggets.

Redick then recalled the dialogue surrounding the Nuggets’ Game 1 win over the Lakers.

“After Game 1 of the Nuggets-Lakers series, I was on the show. I was Get Up for two hours, I was on this show for two hours,” Redick said. “I would say over half the conversation was about the Lakers and what they did. Oh, by the way, Nikola Jokic had his third straight triple-double that game and had 34 (points), 21 (rebounds), and 14 (assists). How much did we talk about that?

“We don’t do a good of selling what the NBA is, which is 30 teams, 450 players, multiple superstars. The fact that people are now being like, ‘Oh, I didn’t realize Nikola Jokic was good’… Well, let’s put him on TV more!”

Watch above via ESPN

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