JJ Redick Says NBA Players Now Care More About Insta Likes than Winning

A lot of young players are probably calling JJ Redick an old head under their breath this week as the veteran player took young up and comers to task in a recent interview. What Redick said has the air of an old man complaining about these kids and their newfangled technology, but he may have a point. Insta stunting and Fortnite wins may be taking their toll on the game.

In his “these kids nowadays,” Redick said on his podcast:

There’s just too much stuff going on. There’s too many people in your ear. There’s probably not enough time in the day for some guys. They’ve got Fortnite to go to. They’ve gotta worry about getting a fit off for pregame. This is an issue. I really believe this: I think there’s more guys concerned with getting a pregame fit on Instagram than they are worrying about the win and loss of a basketball game. I stand by that statement. It’s very concerning to me.

This is spot on. We’re starting to see an uptick in young players across the board in professional sports complaining of symptoms of carpal tunnel thanks to hours of Fortnite. We pay to see the best in the world play a game, and we want their heads in the game, not thinking about Instagram likes or whether their “Taco Tuesday” trademark is going to be approved.

Michael Jordan isn’t the greatest of all time because of his social media presence; he’s the GOAT because of his work ethic. He once infamously played while sick with the flu; Jimmy Butler sits out games because of “general soreness.” The funny thing is that Jordan became the first billionaire athlete ever, and most of these kids posing for likes will blow their fortunes two years out of the league.

The NBA is selling a product, and that product is starting to noticeably wain in quality. Redick is a dying breed, and soon enough we won’t have any hard-nosed players left to call out the behind the scenes bullshit. Redick is 100% right in this situation, but he’ll unfortunately be ignored or even mocked for thinking that professional players should put the game before all else.