Before JJ Redick had thick skin, he had a skin problem.

When Redick was an 18-year-old freshman at Duke, severe acne prickled his shoulders under his Duke jersey. ACC fans took notice.

When the sharpshooting guard went to Virginia, a crowd wore shirts with Redick’s number. 4 at the front. They added one twist: red polka dots spread across the top of their shoulder sleeves.

That was one of the few light-hearted incidents in a dark period of turmoil during Redick’s college career. As he told ESPN, fans would throw insults at his brother. They insinuated that they had had sex with his then twelve-year-old sister. One fan shouted “FU JJ” in the middle of the anthem. He had to constantly change his phone number because of annoying calls from strangers at all hours of the night.

“We’re on campus, the woman who puts cream cheese on your bagel in the dining hall is talking to you,” Redick told Pardon my Take. “I can’t escape this.”

Redick seriously considered quitting basketball halfway through his sophomore year. Instead, he came up with a plan to defeat the trolls.

First, Redick begged coach Mike Krzyzewski to break his rule banning undershirts during games. Coach K relented and Redick wore a white T-shirt under his jersey for the rest of his time at Duke, hiding that severe acne.

Second, Redick decided to embrace the role of heel. He would attack the hecklers after the big three. He voiced the owner of the Baltimore Ravens while helping Duke beat Maryland. And he backed it all up with a supreme confidence that bordered on arrogance.

Redick didn’t know it at the time, but that thick skin qualified him for one of the toughest coaching jobs in all of professional sports worldwide.

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If you want to know why Redick thinks he can succeed in coaching, all you have to do is listen to his podcast.

“You only need two things,” he explained in 2021’s The Old Man and the Three.

“If you’re not a basketball genius, your players won’t respect you, because the best players are basketball geniuses.”

“The second thing is interpersonal skills. That’s all it comes down to. Being honest, being able to talk to guys, both on and off the field.”

There is little doubt about how well Redick knows the game. TJ McConnell played next to him in Philadelphia for two seasons and became like a second brother to him. McConnell was amazed at Redick’s breadth of knowledge.

“As far as X and O go, JJ is one of the smartest I’ve ever been around,” McConnell noted.

As for the second part, America’s biggest villain became one of the league’s most beloved teammates. Until late in his career, he was one of the leading voters for the Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year award, as voted for by his NBA peers.

Stan Van Gundy coached Redick at both the beginning and end of his career.

“JJ really had to earn his respect among his teammates,” Van Gundy said. “You come from Duke and you have a huge reputation, there are guys who aren’t automatically attracted to you.”

By the end of his seven seasons with the Magic, Redick had won over even the strongest of skeptics.

“JJ was the guy that everyone trusted and looked up to because of what he had done,” Van Gundy said.

McConnell believes Redick has a superpower of sorts: the ability to take a genuine interest in the passions of others.

“It’s a great quality as a person to be self-aware and not superficial about things that people are interested in,” McConnell noted. “He needs time to really get to know you.”

Redick has always been “a connector,” as McConnell calls it, able to bridge gaps between people.

“When we were in college, he started rapping and writing rhymes,” recalls Redick’s former Duke and Magic teammate Chris Duhon.

Duhon and Redick would freestyle rap along with their Duke teammates. Redick imitated his favorite rapper Eminem and outdid Duhon and the others.

“He wasn’t bad,” Duhon laughs. “He was decent.”

Redick has a long list of passions. He started writing poetry in high school. He is a big fan of Hemingway. He has at various times become obsessed with luxury watches, wine and golf. He’s taught himself how to rise to the top of the NBA media world and build a podcast empire.

“It shows you how smart he was and how creative his mind is,” Duhon said. “He knows how to deal with people.”

“He’s a smart kid with a lot of interests, so he can talk about a lot of things,” Van Gundy said. “He cared about his teammates. It wasn’t always just basketball.”

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No one exemplifies Redick’s ability to charm more than his fierce college rival, Chris Paul. Those two hated each other so much that Redick got his hands on Paul during Michael Jordan’s basketball camp in 2004.

“When I say I’m not like JJ, I can’t stand JJ,” Paul said about that time on the Draymond Green podcast.

Redick and Paul buried the hatchet and became good friends as Clipper teammates. As Redick told Bleacher Report’s Taylor Rooks, the catalyst for that friendship was a shared interest in one of Paul’s favorite TV shows at the time, Scandal. The two met religiously every week with their wives, drinking wine and watching the latest episode in Paul’s theater room.

Redick never had coaching on his radar until he joined the Mavs in a trade late in his career. He only played a few games before he got injured and couldn’t play. In Dallas without his family, he learned how to connect with a completely different group of people: the coaching staff.

“He became more interested in the strategy as we went into a playoff series with the Clippers, matchups, adjustments and things like that,” Carlisle said. “Maybe that whetted his appetite a little.”

Redick was known for his preparation

There is a third great coaching quality that Redick has, one that is fundamental to his personality. His preparation is second to none.

LeBron James described Redick’s first practice as “very detail-oriented.” Austin Reaves noted that “a lot of attention has been paid to detail and structure, which is beautiful.”

“I’m not someone you can compare,” Cam Reddish told Jacob Rude that day, “but so far it’s been very detailed.”

“When we were teammates in Orlando, it was like coming out of the military,” Duhon said. “Everything was planned. Do very specific things at a specific time every day. That’s why he became a great NBA player, by sticking to a routine. No one could get him off.”

Redick’s discipline allowed him to succeed in the NBA. He religiously studied scouting reports, which helped him stay on the field defensively.

Van Gundy recalled when Redick replaced injured starter Courtney Lee during a playoff series against the Celtics. Redick’s job was to stick with All-Star Ray Allen, who shot just 13 percent from 3 during that series.

“Everything we talked about in terms of where you wanted to force Allen, when to stay home, not help, and stay with his fakes, JJ did. He made virtually no mistakes.”

Redick extends that rigor to his relationship building. Years ago he introduced McConnell to the wine world. McConnell would occasionally text Redick the wine list at restaurants and ask him what to select. But he learned to give Redick a few hours before receiving his recommendation. That gave Redick the necessary time to research the perfect choice.

Another time, McConnell told Redick he was going to Italy for his honeymoon.

“JJ actually came back with a PowerPoint presentation on where to go. What we have to do. Go to this place? Buy this wine. Go here, get this pasta, here, get this gelato.

“He really cares about relationships, and with his knowledge of basketball, there obviously aren’t many like him.”

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Today, Redick’s shoulder acne is long gone. Instead, there is a skin thick enough to block out the criticism that is sure to fly his way.

The media barrage was at times too much for predecessor Darvin Ham, who looked overwhelmed midway through his final season. “I’m tired of people living and dying every game. It’s actually ridiculous,” Ham told reporters in those final days.

Redick takes a different approach. He’s heard it all, and he won’t be unprepared like he was as a teenager in Virginia.

During Redick’s first press conference with the Lakers, he was asked if he would clear up any misconceptions about himself.

I really don’t care…” Redick replied. “Honestly, I want to coach the Lakers. I want to coach the team. I don’t want to push anything away. I want to be a great coach in the NBA. And I want to win championships. And I want my players to maximize their careers.”

“That’s all I care about.”