J.J. Redick entered the NBA with a reputation for brashness from Duke.
He joined a Magic team with Dwight Howard, Grant Hill, Jameer Nelson and Hedo Turkoglu as the top players.
Redick on The JJ Redick Podcast
Turkoglu beat me up a couple times. I’m not going to lie.
One day after practice, they asked me to apologize to the team. I was late to a practice. So, they said you’ve got to sit in front of the team, and you’ve got to explain yourself and apologize. And I said, “OK.” And I was fully dressed. And I sat in the chair. And as soon as I sat in the chair, like three guys grabbed me, and they used duct tape, and they duct-taped me to the chair. And then they stuck me in the shower. And the water was running. It was super cold. They left it cold. And they sat me in front of the cold water in the shower for like an hour. Everybody left practice. And then like the equipment manager found me like an hour later.
That sounds pretty serious.
I’m glad Redick, who’s now with the Pelicans, wound up OK and even appreciates veterans putting him in his place. Harsh lessons can be beneficial.
But as described, this is far beyond what should be tolerated for rookie hazing. This could have wound up way worse and might have for many players. Maybe even most players. It’s not something just to laugh off.
This now makes a pattern of Redick turning potentially serious situations into podcast fodder.