JJ Redick became a hit on social media over the weekend when cameras caught him in the midst of a dejected, faraway stare during the New Orleans Pelicans’ crushing 126-103 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday.
The image instantly became one of the biggest memes to emerge out of the NBA’s bubble at the Walt Disney World Resort’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Fla., since play resumed last week.
During an appearance this week on ESPN Daily, Redick explained the morose expression that launched a thousand tweets.
“I was angry we got our butts kicked. It’s embarrassing, and I think my face summed up that first half pretty well.
“There’s so many circumstances you could apply the emotions that I was going through in that moment.”
It goes without saying that social media agreed with Redick’s sentiments, as witty reactions could be found in abundance on Twitter.
As the final tweet above notes, Redick could be coming to the realization that his streak of reaching the postseason in each of his 13 NBA seasons may be coming to an end. That may help explain his morose disposition as the Pelicans’ prospects of making the playoffs are starting to slip away.
After dropping their first two games of the eight-game seeding schedule including the 126-103 loss to the Clippers, the Pelicans rebounded Monday with a 109-99 win over the Grizzlies.
With five games remaining, the Pelicans are only 2.5 games out of the eighth seed in the Western Conference, but the Spurs and Trail Blazers now stand between the team and the Grizzlies.
With all that in mind — even with a potential two-game play-in tournament between No. 8 and No. 9 seeds hanging in the balance — the Pelicans are running out of time in the brief wrap-up to the regular season. The demoralized look on Redick’s face on Saturday made it clear he understands as much.
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