New Los Angeles Lakers coach JJ Redick has denied an allegation he used the N-word during his college playing career at Duke.
Redick held his first press conference as Lakers coach on Monday. On Tuesday, author and speaker Halleemah Nash wrote on X that, “I’ve only been called the N word to my face by a white man once in my life and it was on the campus of Duke University while I was doing work with the basketball team. And today [sic] he was named the new head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. What a world.”
Nash did not specify when the alleged incident took place but Redick played for Duke from 2002 until 2006. Nash’s LinkedIn page says she worked with the team in 2003 and 2004. The tweet was viewed millions of times in the hours after it was posted.
On Tuesday night, a spokesperson for Redick denied Nash’s allegation. “No, it never happened,” the person told TMZ Sports.
Hours after the original tweet, Nash posted again on X “for context”.
“This was years ago and Im a believer that we all have space to grow- especially from our college level maturity,” she wrote. “We live in a world where these exchanges happen and the intersection of race and privilege and lack of accountability all collided w/that presser.”
The 40-year-old Redick had a 15-year NBA playing career with teams including the Orlando Magic, Los Angeles Clippers and Philadelphia 76ers. He was named national college player of the year in 2006, and Duke later retired his No 4 jersey.
Redick built a successful media career after his retirement from playing in 2021. He was part of the commentary booth for this year’s NBA finals and co-hosted a popular podcast with LeBron James. He announced he would step away from the podcast when he accepted the Lakers job, where he will coach James.
