The future of the NBA media empire that new Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick built since retiring from the league in 2021 is unknown, but former teammate Jamal Crawford recently revealed that empire could have looked much different.
Between his Old Man & the Three interview show and the heavily scrutinized Mind the Game podcast with LeBron James, Redick covered all bases and all levels of the NBA in addition to calling top games for ESPN. But according to Crawford, he could have been on the opposite side of the mic instead of the legendary James.
In an interview on the #thisleague UNCUT podcast with Marc Stein and Chris Haynes released last week, Crawford recalled how after he and Redick both retired following the league’s Bubble season in 2020, Redick pitched him on a podcast collaboration. Crawford said no, instead focusing on coaching his son.
“We never got further with it, because I wasn’t in the space for it mentally,” Crawford told Stein and Haynes. “But he was at The Ringer with Bill Simmons, and he was going from there to Old Man & the Three. So we didn’t get specific, obviously (Mind the Game) is incredible. And theirs just started this year in 2024, this was 2021.”
Still, while the timing wasn’t right for Crawford to join Redick on a regular podcast, they remained close.
“Over the Clippers period, that’s one relationship I didn’t think would happen with me and him,” Crawford explained. “It felt like we were two different worlds, it felt like we saw things differently, and that was one of my fondest relationships to this day, was being friends with him.”
Coincidentally, Crawford could in fact become the final guest on The Old Man & the Three, as he joined Redick for an interview on the June 14 episode of the podcast before becoming the new Lakers coach.
Crawford is optimistic Redick can succeed in Los Angeles.
“JJ is really sharp. Besides the basketball mind that everybody can hear, just knowing him as a person, he’s not going to take any shortcuts,” Crawford explained. “He’s really prepared, and he’s prepared for bad to happen as well … now it’s just going to be getting the trust of the guys.”
While he denied Redick back in 2021, Crawford eventually found his way to TNT Sports. He started as a panelist on the Tuesday night studio show alongside Shaquille O’Neal, Candace Parker and Adam Lefkoe before calling playoff games including the Western Conference Finals this spring.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.