Honoring J.J. Redick for a career well done

Sep. 22—J.J. Redick announced his retirement from the NBA on Tuesday via Twitter and Instagram with a five-minute video.

Honestly, it was pretty cool. He thanked a lot of people, including his wife, and many teammates, basically saying the best part of his career was the relationships. He was emotional near the end, particularly talking about being a full-time dad for his two boys.

Redick's retirement didn't get, in my opinion, as much play as it deserved yesterday.

Ben Simmons announcing he would not "ever" report to the Philadelphia 76ers training camp, stole the NBA news.

Ironically, a guy that can't shoot steals the thunder from one of the greatest shooters of his generation.

Redick more than deserves his day.

Personally, I have a little "skin" in the game when it pertains to Redick in that I wrote a column about him (more on that) when the Orlando Magic played the Boston Celtics near the end of his third year as a bench guy in March of 2009.

Two months later, by happenstance, I ran into Redick at the Raleigh-Durham airport coming back from an AAU baseball tournament in Orlando. He remembered me from the interview we shared.

He was heading to the Caribbean for a surprise engagement to his future wife. Members of both families would be attending, he said.

He met my wife, who later said, "He's beautiful." I recall saying something like, "OK, that's great info."

He also shook my son's hand and asked a few questions about his baseball career. It was a nice meeting.

I would run into him several times at the T.D. Garden over the next decade-plus, and we had this little bond.

When the Celtics and Sixers met in the 2018 NBA Eastern Conference semis, I caught up with him before Game 1 at a Sixers practice at Harvard University.

Near the end of his chat with several reporters, I asked Redick about being the old, cagey vet playing a series dominated by guys in their early 20s.

My "pal" J.J. didn't like where my question was going.

"I don't really think about the 'young guy' storyline," he said, before walking away.

I probably caught him on a tough morning. Whatever.

Redick, though, surprised a lot of people, if not everyone outside of his family and Duke University, with his career in the NBA.

Quite frankly, very few people predicted this: 15 years, 12,028 points, and $116,423,821 in salaries.

Redick did not have a lot of people rooting for him, especially early in his career. Remember, he went to Duke University, and that's a stain on a lot of players' records.

One very funny nugget from that first story I wrote in March of 2009 at the T.D. Garden happened while Redick was warming up by himself a few hours before the game.

Some guy in the upper deck yelled, "Hey Redick! You (bleep)!"

Redick looked up and waved at the guy.

"I love that. I understand it's a 'Duke' thing," he told me a dozen years ago. "People love Duke or hate Duke. It's sort of funny. There is no in-between."

The "Duke" thing wore off though as Redick proved his NBA mettle. Beginning in 2010-11 his average hit double digits and went up nearly every year over a 10-season stretch — 10.1, 11.6, 14.1, 15.1, 16.4, 16.3, 15.0, 17.1, 18.1 and 15.3.

He could shoot with anyone, with as quick a release as there was over his career. For the six seasons he played for the Los Angeles Clippers (4) and Sixers (2), he was their guy when it came to instant offense.

For his career, Redick shot 41.5 percent from 3-point range and in 2015-16 he led the NBA at 47.5 percent.

Redick won't make the Hall of Fame, but as the NBA's 261st scorer all-time he did score 64 more career points than Danny Ainge while playing 102 fewer games.

He sort of ended his career with a whimper due, in most part, to injury. He averaged only 4.4 points over 13 games after being traded to the Dallas Mavericks and didn't play in the Mavs seven-game series (coaches' decision) playoff loss to the Clippers in May and early June.

At 37, the time was right to call it a career. To be honest, a damn impressive career. The "alleged" cocky kid from Duke really had game.

You can email Bill Burt at bburt@eagletribune.com.

J.J. loved playing in Boston

While his name came up from time to time during free agency and trade deadline, J.J. Redick never became a Celtic.

He often talked about the Celtics and Boston when he visited.

"This is as good as it gets," said Redick of playing at the T.D. Garden. "It's a frenzied environment at times ... I love the passion here. I've always loved coming to Boston."