Jerry West isn’t happy with JJ Redick.
The Hall of Famer took offense at Redick’s comments in April, when Redick downplayed Bob Cousy’s praise by claiming Cousy “was guarded by plumbers and firefighters‘ while discussing the legacy of the Boston Celtics keeper versus that of the Phoenix Suns keeper Chris Paul on ESPN.
West went all out in his refutation of Redick’s claim, pointing to Redick’s career versus Cousy’s.
“I only know JJ a little bit, he’s a very smart kid and all, but tell me what his career has been like?” West said Friday on Sirius XM NBA Radio. “What did he do to define games? He averaged 12 points per game in the league? At some point along the way numbers count. At that point the players aren’t what they used to be. JJ certainly wasn’t going. ” to protect the elite players. So you can make anyone fussy. The only reason I’m talking about him is because he wasn’t an elite player, but he was a very good player, but he had a place in the team because of his ability to shoot the ball.
“…Winning is all that matters, that’s what drove me. I got subtly better every year. We didn’t have the facilities to get better. We had to work in the summer to support our family. JJ should be very thankful that he made as much money as he did and Bob Cousy, who I played against for a couple of years, not for very long – I just find it disrespectful myself.
It should be noted that Redick refused to compare Cousy to Paul, who they played in different eras. Chris Russo, an ESPN panellist, dismissed that notion, claiming Cousy was better because he made All-NBA against West and Oscar Robertson (two other Hall-of-Famers) in the first-team and Paul didn’t in the modern NBA there was player.
This argument eventually led to Redick’s “disrespectful” comments.
For what it’s worth, Cousy is a Hall of Famer, having won six NBA titles with Bill Russell and the Celtics, including five straight titles from 1959-1963, and averaging 18.4 points per game and 7.5 assists scored per game in 35 minutes per game. He was also a 1957 NBA MVP, a 13-time NBA All-Star, a 10-time All-NBA First-Team winner, and an eight-time NBA assists leader.
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Paul, on the other hand, is a 12-time All-Star, four-time All-NBA First Team, and seven-time NBA All-Defensive First Team. He’s averaged 18.1 points per game and 9.5 assists per game over his 17-year career, but has yet to win an NBA championship.
Another cross-epoch comparative question remains unanswered.
Jerry West doesn’t want to hear your Bob Cousy smear. (Photo by Allen Berezovsky/Getty Images)