JJ Redick On Being Hated

Here’s video of former Duke great JJ Redick on what it was like to be hated at Duke.

Turns out it was a painful experience for him in a number of ways, not least of all in how his sisters were treated.

He talks her about how he was in therapy at Duke and wanted to quit after his sophomore year and just in general how difficult it was for him to deal with it all.

Naturally Christian Laettner gets brought into the conversation but the difference between Laettner and, well, everyone, is that when Laettner said he never spent a second caring about what anyone else thought he totally meant it. Even his mother wondered where that part of his personality came from. He was pretty unique.

Clearly it wounded Redick to be thought of as a villain and of course it was painful to see what some world-class jerks said about his sisters. One of them was quite young at the time and was repeatedly smeared with disgusting innuendo.

She was a young teenager at the time.

Anyway, it’s a striking interview and really something to hear. There’s a lot to go through so find a few minutes and listen when you won’t be bothered. It’s really interesting.