New Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick has denied allegations that he used the N-word while playing at Duke University.
Redick held his first press conference as Lakers coach on Monday. On Tuesday, he was joined by author and speaker Halleemah Nash wrote on X “I’ve only had a white man call me the N-word once in my life, to my face, when I was working for the basketball team on the Duke University campus. And today [sic] He was named the new head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. What a wonderful world.”
Nash did not say when the incident occurred, but Redick played at Duke from 2002 to 2006. Nash’s LinkedIn page says he worked for the team in 2003 and 2004. The tweet was viewed millions of times within hours of being posted.
Tuesday night, Reddick denied the allegations.“No, that didn’t happen,” a source told TMZ Sports.
The 40-year-old Redick played in the NBA for 15 years with the Orlando Magic, Los Angeles Clippers and Philadelphia 76ers. He was named the 2006 College Player of the Year and later had his No. 4 jersey retired by Duke University.
Redick has had a successful career in media since retiring in 2021, including as a commentator for this year’s NBA Finals and hosting a popular podcast with LeBron James. He announced he was stepping down from the podcast to take on James as coach with the Lakers.
