How JJ Redick's Life Became a Sitcom

EPISODE 51: "It was great."

I’ve been thinking about what it takes to coach, lately. And that was even before the last 36 hours, when three head coaches — three of the greatest coaches ever, in any sport — left their football teams after decades in control: Seattle’s Pete Carroll, Alabama’s Nick Saban, and New England’s Bill Belichick.

I’d been thinking about coaching because I’d been watching my insanely detail-oriented friend JJ Redick field inquiries, in retirement, from more than a half-dozen NBA teams. All of whom were interested in him leaving behind his digital media empire and ESPN TV job to join and/or lead their coaching staffs.

But JJ Redick — who played 15 years in the NBA after an all-time career at Duke — decided to coach a very different basketball team, instead.

This is a real-life sitcom I’d first heard about from JJ’s Old Man and the Three co-host, Tommy Alter. And then I witnessed it, in person, when I embedded in the parents section to watch his Brooklyn Basketball Academy squad last month.

It is a story filled with obsession, and parenting, and regret, and ejections.

But no zone.

DKN/YOUTUBE SPOILER ALERT:

Seriously,

Pablo