Redick recalls Kobe Bryant wearing out coach Johnny Dawkins with early morning workouts.
During his appearance on the Flagrant Podcast, JJ Redick doubled down on theories portraying Kobe Bryant as a ‘psycho worker.’ Drawing from his personal experience, the 39-year-old recounted attending the USA Basketball Camp during his senior year in college. On the very first day, he stumbled upon coach Johnny Dawkins, who appeared exhausted. When Redick inquired why he was tired, Dawkins attributed his fatigue to Kobe’s relentless desire to practice at early hours.
“I’m like, ‘JD what the f**k is going on?’ He’s like, ‘Kobe, man, he had me in here at 6 AM. He was in here for three hours. He was working on the counter to the counter to the counter and he had to make 10 shots in a row,'” Redick said. “All those stories about Kobe being a psycho worker… they’re all true. So that was cool.”
Redick was impressed by Kobe’s knack for learning
Delving deeper into his encounter, Redick disclosed how, after the end of the first practice session, Kobe approached him and asked to practice together. Initially interpreting it as a friendly gesture, JJ later realized that the 18-time All-Star was meticulously studying his shooting form.
Since Redick was considered a lethal sharpshooter in his senior year at Duke, who shot 42.1% from the 3-point line and 47.0% from the field, Kobe didn’t mind learning from a young stud despite being an NBA superstar.
“Like 15 minutes into it, I realize he’s watching how I shoot. Watching how I catch the ball, watching how my footwork. He’s trying to pick something up,” Redick added. “He was always trying to learn.”
When host Adam Schulz asked if he could teach Kobe any new tricks, Redick modestly confessed that he couldn’t as he simply wasn’t ‘that good.’
JJ Redick’s best achievement was to compete against Kobe in the NBA Finals
In an earlier segment of the episode, Redick revealed that despite Kobe being the sole reason why he couldn’t win a championship when he reached the NBA Finals with the Orlando Magic in 2009, the pinnacle of his career was being able to defend the ‘Black Mamba’ in the championship round.
While Bryant averaged 32.4 points and 7.4 assists across the five games that the LA Lakers took to beat Magic, Bubs admitted to cherishing several photos of himself and Kobe from that series on his phone.