J.J. Redick: “Houston Offered Me More Money than Philly”
J.J. Redick recently signed a one-year $23 million deal to come play for the Philadelphia 76ers. Many people looked at the deal, saw the amount of money he received, and figured it was a "money grab" by a guy that maybe didn't have as many suitors that he had hoped in free agency.
On Wednesday, the recent free agent tried to set the record straight on the premier episode of his new podcast - The Chronicles of Redick: "It wasn't about the money,” Redick said. "Houston offered me more money than Philly. Total money."
“They offered me more money," the former Clippers guard said. "I knew in Houston, I was going to come off of the bench. Me and Eric Gordon do a lot of the same things. We were going to play some minutes together, he would get to finish some games, maybe I would - but it wasn't going to be what I wanted at this point of my career on the court part of it.”
Redick, 33, played in 78 games last season, averaging 15.0 points, hitting 42% from 3-point range.
"The salary is important," Redick admitted. "I didn't want to play for the minimum, but to me it wasn't about the money, it was about the fit with the team. I really wanted to go to a place where I was like, this is a great situation for me on-and-off-the-court. I really wanted Chelsea (his wife) to be happy - that was huge."
While Redick wanted to make his wife happy, Philadelphia wasn't her first choice.
“The one team for Chelsea was the Nets." Redick said on the podcast. "I was certainly interested in the Nets. I love what they’re building there.