JJ Redick Comes To Terms With His ‘Athletic Mortality’
Former Magic, Clippers and Mavericks star JJ Redick has announced his retirement from the NBA after 15 years.
JJ Redick was drafted by Orlando in 2006 after making history at Duke. An AP Player of the Year, JJ Redick is Duke’s all time scoring leader with 2,769 points.
As well as that, he leads them in 3 pointers with 457 and free throw accuracy of 91.2%. In his senior year he averaged 26.8 points, which is another Duke record.
In the NBA, Redick averaged 12.8 points in 940 games with the Magic, Clippers, 76ers, Pelicans, Bucks and Mavericks. He ranks 15th in all-time NBA 3 pointers with 1,950.
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Throughout his first thirteen seasons, Redick appeared in the playoffs every year. The furthest he came to the title was reaching the NBA Finals with the Magic in 2009.Â
His landmark game came in 2016 with the Clippers when he scored a career-high 40 points against the Rockets.
A combination of injury and Covid issues impacted his numbers over the last season. As a result, he only played 44 games and shot 37% from range – the second lowest of his career. As well as that, he only averaged 7.4 points, his lowest average in a decade.
“As a 7-year-old boy, I dreamed of playing at Duke as I got older. I dreamed of playing in the NBA,” Redick said.
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“The last 30 years of basketball have been beyond my wildest dreams. I never could have imagined that I would have played basketball for this long. After years of youth leagues, AAU, high school basketball, four years at Duke and 15 years in the NBA, I’m retiring from the game that I love so much.
“It was difficult for a number of reasons,” Redick said. “Being injured, being away from my family, COVID protocols and really, truly not playing up to my standards. I would like to describe last season as a seven-month exercise in coming face-to-face with my own athletic mortality, and it was scary and confusing.’
“I have some clarity now and I know it’s time,” Redick said. “It’s time for me to be a dad. It’s time for me to reflect, pause, and it’s time for me to get ready for the next phase of my life.”
