JJ Redick had a fulfilling NBA career, but one of his regrets was not getting the chance to play for Mike D’Antoni.
And it had nearly came to fruition in 2017.
After a four-year run with the Los Angeles Clippers, Redick hit free agency ahead of the 2017-18 campaign. It had been known that Redick, then about to enter his age-33 season, was mulling offers from the Houston Rockets and Philadelphia 76ers.
Things fell apart between Redick and the Rockets, paving the way for him to join the Sixers while preventing the opportunity to play for D’Antoni, who was running the show in Houston at the time.
With D’Antoni making a stop on Redick’s podcast “The Old Man and the Three” Redick told the story of he and D’Antoni’s correspondence after the Houston option fell through.
“That did almost happen,” Redick said about playing for D’Antoni. “To be clear, I was ready to take the offer, Daryl (Morey) rescinded on the fourth year, this was in 2017, and he moved it down to a three-year deal. And at that point it very much was an economic decision.
“It’s funny, I’ve told this story before. Very stressful weekend, you and I spoke, and I don’t know why I went outside, I was just stressed out, and I was laying on a park bench in Brooklyn Bridge Park and it was raining, and you and I chatted. Got off the phone, Daryl rescinded the fourth year, I committed to Philly, you texted me about five minutes later and you go, ‘I would’ve done the same thing’”
Ultimately, losing out on Redick did end up impacting the Rockets, who made it to the Western Conference finals but lost in seven games to the Golden State Warriors.
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