ESPN’s J.J. Redick Scathes Media for Dillon Brooks Portrayal

The media narrative surrounding the Grizzlies wing as a “scapegoat” is problematic in Redick’s opinion.

ESPN’s J.J. Redick is not thrilled with the media’s portrayal of Grizzlies wing Dillon Brooks as a “scapegoat” following Memphis’s first-round playoff exit at the hands of the Lakers.

Retired NBA player Stephen Jackson is one observer who ripped member of the Grizzlies front office and how they portrayed Brooks in the media following the wing’s comments about LeBron James during the first-round playoff series.

Brooks called James “old,” and added that he didn’t respect anybody who couldn’t score 40 points on him. Following the Grizzlies’ first-round playoff exit, the team’s front office announced on Tuesday that Brooks would not be returning to the team “under any circumstances.”

Redick agreed with Jackson that the Grizzlies have problems other than Brooks. 

“Whoever put that language and approved that language in the tweet? Yeah, that person wants to make Dillon Brooks the scapegoat. The reality is, the Grizzlies have other problems besides Dillon Brooks,” Redick said. “Whether they choose to bring him back, or don’t choose to bring him back, whatever it may be. …

“I can’t remember a time in my now 17 years of either being in the NBA or covering the NBA, where we’re in the second-round of the playoffs the day of a game where two of the greatest players ever are getting ready to square off, and we’re just tweeting out things for engagement,” Redick continued, seemingly referring to the language used in a report by Shams Charania of The Athletic.

“I’d be willing to bet that that language didn’t come from the Grizzlies,” Redick added. “This is the problem, all right? It’s an agenda-driven media. I have a problem with it. The reality is that Dillon Brooks hurts them offensively. If you want to go in a different direction, that’s fine! That is fine. Do the antics … did that hurt them? I don’t know. I don’t know if that hurt them. There’s other problems in roster construction, guys being out, there’s other issues besides Dillon Brooks and him poking a bear. ...

“The culture has changed a little bit [since the bubble]. There was some antics. Is Dillon Brooks the only one that’s a part of that? To me, he’s not the scapegoat! And whoever’s agenda it was to tweet that out, I have a problem with that. And if you ask Dillon Brooks’s teammates? They ride with him. They ride with him. It’s OK to go in another direction. I don’t understand why you have to kick a guy while he’s down. For engagement? Really?”

Clearly Redick has plenty of opinions about the demise of the Grizzlies, but the narrative surrounding Brooks as the singular reason why the team tanked in the playoffs clearly does not sit well with him.