I remember the first time I saw JJ Redick shoot a basketball - it was like watching poetry in motion. As someone who's followed basketball for over two decades, I've seen plenty of great shooters, but there's something special about Redick's form that just sticks with you. His career numbers tell an incredible story of persistence and pure shooting excellence that I think gets overlooked sometimes when people talk about modern NBA greats.
Let me walk you through what made Redick's career so remarkable. Over his 15 seasons in the NBA, he appeared in 940 regular season games, starting 305 of them. Now, those numbers might not jump off the page at first glance, but when you dig deeper into his shooting percentages, that's where the magic happens. Redick finished his career with a 44.7% field goal percentage, but the real story is his three-point shooting - he shot 41.5% from beyond the arc for his entire career. To put that in perspective, only 12 players in NBA history have taken more three-pointers while maintaining a higher percentage. That's elite company, folks.
What I find most impressive about Redick wasn't just the numbers, but how he achieved them. He wasn't the most athletic guy on the court - I remember watching games where he'd be working twice as hard just to get open, running through screens, using clever footwork to create that sliver of space he needed. Then, in that split second when he caught the ball, his release was so quick and so pure. It reminded me of that quote from one of his interviews where he said, "Sabi ko nga there's nothing to be ashamed of, lalo na sa game na 'to. Siguro hindi pa talaga tama yung mabigyan kami ng panalo ni God." There's a certain humility in that approach that I think defined his career - he knew his role, embraced it, and excelled at it without making excuses.
His college career at Duke was absolutely legendary, and honestly, I think it set the tone for everything that followed. He scored 2,769 points in his four years there, which still ranks as the all-time scoring leader in Duke history and the ACC conference. He won pretty much every award you can imagine - National Player of the Year, two-time ACC Player of the Year, and he still holds the NCAA record for career three-pointers made with 457. I've always felt that his college success created this massive expectation that followed him into the NBA, and honestly, it took him a few years to really find his footing at the professional level.
The evolution of Redick's game throughout his NBA journey is something I find fascinating. His first few seasons with the Magic were inconsistent - he averaged just 6.0 points per game in his rookie year while playing about 15 minutes per game. But then something clicked around his fourth season, and he became this incredibly efficient scoring machine. By the time he was with the Clippers from 2013 to 2017, he was averaging around 16-18 points per game while shooting over 47% from the field and 44% from three-point range. That's the version of Redick that I think most fans remember best - the guy who could single-handedly change games with his shooting.
What many casual fans might not realize is how much Redick's game evolved beyond just shooting. Later in his career, he developed into a much better playmaker and defender than people gave him credit for. I recall watching him with the 76ers where he averaged a career-high 18.1 points per game while also contributing 3.0 assists - not massive numbers, but important secondary playmaking that helped their offense flow. His basketball IQ was always off the charts, and you could see him making subtle adjustments throughout games that demonstrated his deep understanding of offensive systems.
The statistical milestones throughout his career are worth highlighting too. He finished with 12,028 total points, which places him 247th all-time in NBA scoring. More impressively, he made 1,950 three-pointers, ranking him 15th in NBA history at the time of his retirement. What's crazy to me is that he accomplished all this while never being the primary offensive option on any of his teams - he was always the complementary piece, the floor spacer, the guy who made everyone else better by demanding defensive attention.
I've always admired how Redick adapted his game as he aged and the league evolved. When he entered the NBA in 2006, the three-point revolution was just beginning, and he was right there at the forefront of it. By the time he retired in 2021, the game had completely transformed into the pace-and-space era that he helped pioneer. His ability to maintain such high efficiency throughout that transition speaks volumes about his work ethic and basketball intelligence. I remember thinking during his final seasons that he was actually getting smarter even as he lost a step physically - he knew exactly how to position himself, when to cut, and how to read defenses to get those clean looks he loved.
There's a certain beauty in specialists who perfect their craft, and Redick was the epitome of that. In today's analytics-driven NBA, his type of player is more valued than ever, but I'm not sure we'll see another shooter quite like him. The combination of his work ethic, shooting form, and basketball IQ created this unique package that teams desperately needed. Looking back at his career statistics and highlights, what stands out to me isn't just the numbers themselves, but the consistency and professionalism he demonstrated year after year. He proved that you don't need to be the most athletic or flashy player to have an incredible impact on the game - sometimes, being really, really good at one specific thing is enough to carve out a remarkable 15-year career.