Following an incident in which J.J. Redick appeared to use a racial slur while wishing fans a happy Chinese New Year, he's since apologized after originally tweeting out that he was just tongue-tied.
Wow! JJ Reddick used a racial slur when congratulating Chinese fans on the Year of Dog pic.twitter.com/DGx2wny8P9
— Not Bill Walton (@NotBillWalton) February 18, 2018
Here is Redick's original tweet in which he didn't actually apologize:
Just saw a video that is being circulated of me wishing a happy new year to NBA fans in China.Clearly I was tongue tied, as the word I purportedly said is not in my vocabulary. I’m disappointed that anyone would think I would use that word. I love & respect our friends in China.
— JJ Redick (@JJRedick) February 18, 2018
Basically, he's disappointed in people who believe he used a slur — a rather weird defense of iffy actions.
Since then, however, Redick has actually released a more detailed statement explaining what happened.
Please read. Thank you. pic.twitter.com/phL6v7Voeb
— JJ Redick (@JJRedick) February 19, 2018
At the very least, at least that helps explain how the NBA released that video without the apparent slur being edited out. If no one heard it, or believed what Redick said was a slur but something else, that weird part of the story ends. Whether or not you believe how he landed on many hearing a slur is up to you.
This story is not over, as Jeremy Lin has also released a statement backing Redick.
wanted to address this... pic.twitter.com/3oB2mUvQpc
— Jeremy Lin (@JLin7) February 19, 2018
People are likely going to hear what they want to hear out of the video. How they feel about the apology, which some might feel comes a tweet too late, might fall in that same category of predetermined mindsets not letting a normal conversation be had.
Either way, Redick's initial defiance, instead of just releasing an actual explanation, likely did him no favors on the mean streets of social media.
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