“He was never at one point serving ESPN” - Jason Whitlock criticizes JJ Redick’s agenda before landing the Lakers head coaching job

Sports journalist Jason Whitlock calls out newly hired Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick about his stint with ESPN before he landed the coaching job. According to Whitlock, a former columnist at ESPN, Redick used the broadcasting industry to get the position he’s in now and it’s a reflection of the type of employees the network has hired over the past few years.

Shots being thrown at JJ

Whitlock isn’t the first media personnel to criticize Redick’s ascendance. It’s actually been a common theme amongst the likes of Kendrick Perkins and Stephen A. Smith, both of whom were Redick’s actual colleagues at ESPN. It even got to a point where Redick was made aware of what his naysayers were saying about him during his introductory press conference, to which he replied by dropping the f-bomb and saying he pays his critics no mind.

Speaking of Redick dropping the f-bomb in his introductory press conference, Whitlock felt that was an inappropriate way for JJ to carry himself especially considering that he’s now a leader of a basketball club.

The outside noise

Redick has been in the spotlight for over a month and half simply because of the fact that he’s now the coach of the Lakers. That’s why it makes sense that all of these accusations and criticisms made about him by his doubters and fellow members in the sports media industry are airing out their opinions about him. But as much as the first-time head coach tries to ignore all the noise, he won’t be able to control it because that’s how it is.

It’s human nature to experience envy and hate when you’re rising in your field and frankly overshadowing your colleagues. It’s one thing for Redick to achieve his dream of being an NBA coach but another to be the guy a prestigious franchise like the Lakers selected to lead the team.

Whitlock and others will all have their opinions about Redick and whether or not his intentions of joining ESPN after his NBA career were the right move, but the fact of the matter is that those preconceived notions will just remain ones that will be forgotten as early as the next day.

Related: "I knew all this was getting cooked" - Stephen Jackson believes JJ Redick was always the top choice for the Lakers' head coaching position