J.J. benched by Durham police
Bad news for J.J. Redick fans - the Duke star was arrested early today and charged with drunken driving.
What this means for Redick's NBA-draft prospects - the 6-4 sharpshooter is considered a late-lottery pick by most analysts - is still being sorted out right now.
The impact could be surprising - given that one thing that was not at question with the Roanoke native's resume was his character. His size, athletic ability, ballhandling skills and ability to play defense have all been put under the microscope in recent months - but Redick, from all accounts, was a model citizen at Duke, where he broke the NCAA record for three-pointers made in a career and the Atlantic Coast Conference career scoring mark in a storybook senior season that saw him named the Associated Press player of the year.
I would like to think that one act of immaturity on the part of a person with Redick's background would not influence a team that was already comfortable with his court skills to pass on him - but it does seem that character issues are playing a bigger role in the current player-personnel climate than they were even a couple of years ago.
If Redick slips out of the lottery, this could be a key reason why.
- Chris Graham