J.J. Redick spent several years playing for Stan Van Gundy with the Orlando Magic early in his career, and the two have been reunited now that Van Gundy is the head coach of the New Orleans Pelicans. Redick can barely hide his excitement about that.
Redick spoke with reporters on Friday about what Van Gundy will bring to New Orleans. He said the Pelicans should be one of the better defensive teams in the NBA under the coach before hilariously bemoaning how hard players are going to have to work in practice.
“We’ll have great discipline. We’ll have great rules. We’ll drill the s— out of everything. You can tell I’m super-excited about it,” Redick said sarcastically. “Can’t wait for training camp. Seriously, how did I end up with this in Year 15? I’ve gotta f—ing do this s— all over again with Stan.”
Redick was clearly trying to needle Van Gundy, with whom he has a close relationship. When he was done laughing about having to play for Van Gundy again, Redick took a more serious tone and said he believes the Pelicans will be “great on (the defensive) side of the ball.”
You can watch the funny exchange below, but beware that it contains inappropriate language:
“How did I end up with this in year 15? I got to f*cking do this sh*t all over again with Stan…”
JJ Redick is thrilled to be back with SVG pic.twitter.com/bk3A3tPw5C
— Dime (@DimeUPROXX) December 4, 2020
Van Gundy’s teams are consistently in the top 10 of the NBA defensively. The Detroit Pistons were never outside the top 10 in the league in defense during his four seasons with the team, so his track record is proven. That is one of the reasons the Pelicans wanted to hire him, as they were fifth in the NBA with 115.8 points per game last season but allowed 117.1 points per game, which ranked 27th.
If you want proof that Redick actually is happy about playing for Van Gundy again, look no further than this.
