JJ Redick accuses NBA legend Carmelo Anthony of sabotaging the 2002 Jordan Brand Classic

After their respective playing careers ended over the last few years, two of the brightest names in the ever-changing NBA media landscape in recent seasons have been former New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony and certified NBA sharpshooter JJ Redick, who spent stints with multiple organizations during his tenure in the league. Redick is currently the host of the “Old Man And The Three” podcast and a regular contributor to ESPN, along with his new “Mind The Game” podcast with Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James, while Anthony hosts his “7PM in Brooklyn” podcast and makes regular appearances on other platforms relating to the sport.

As it turns out, Redick and Anthony both played high school basketball and entered the NBA around the same time in the early 2000’s, and recently Redick stopped by the 7PM in Brooklyn set to recount a hilarious story about their time together as two of the top recruits in the country.

“We were the same high school class we played in the McDonald’s All-American Game, the following week was the Jordan Brand Classic, and Melo had a great game in the McDonald’s game, and I feel like I probably had a little bit better of a game and I ended up getting MVP. And there was some chatter at Jordan Brand Classic that Melo was going around telling our teammates, ‘yo JJ’s not getting MVP at this game, don’t pass it to him,'” recalled Redick, per 7PM In Brooklyn With Carmelo Anthony on YouTube.

“Let me clear this up,” replied Anthony. “It was 2002 Jordan Brand Classic, it used to be the Capital Classic before, and the Jordan Brand took it over and he won MVP at McDonald’s. I never told anybody I’m not passing the f—ing ball. I thought we was going to be Co-MVP of the McDonald’s game.”

Two young stars

The 2002 All American game in question featured the likes of future NBA players Amare Stoudemire, Rashad McCants, Chris Bosh, Raymond Felton, Sean May, along with of course Anthony and Redick.

Meanwhile, the 2002 Jordan Brand Classic that Carmelo Anthony alluded to saw the star score 28 points on 16 shot attempts, while Redick finished with 18 points on only 8 shot attempts, perhaps confirming his theory that Anthony was not looking to pass him the rock (which Anthony essentially confirmed himself with his joking comments).

In any case, the continued relevance of JJ Redick and Carmelo Anthony in the current NBA media landscape to just how much that space has changed in recent years. Nowadays, NBA players like Trae Young, Michael Porter Jr., LeBron James, Draymond Green, CJ McCollum, and many others each have their own podcasts where they can interact with fans of the game like never before and give their real time reactions, predictions, and analysis of current happenings across the NBA.

As these platforms continue to expand, fans should expect even more retired NBA stars like Redick and Anthony to throw their hat into the podcast ring and recall some hilarious stories such as the one above to give fans more context about their careers.