'Literally don't care': Redick responds to Barkley's job security comments

LOS ANGELES -- Los Angeles Lakers coach JJ Redick chose not to further engage in a public spat with Charles Barkley after the Hall of Fame analyst criticized Redick's team and questioned his job security on Thursday's "Inside the NBA" broadcast.

"I didn't make it all the way through the clip, I got to be honest with you," Redick said Friday before the Lakers hosted the Atlanta Hawks. "My resting heart rate is probably 64 [beats per minute]. I watched the clip, it was 64. Literally don't care. I have other thoughts, but don't care."

Barkley was responding to what Redick said Dec. 19 when L.A. played the Sacramento Kings when the Lakers coach shared his opinion on the state of NBA coverage in light of national TV ratings dwindling compared to past seasons.

"[Redick] said something about we're the reason people ain't watching this crappy product we got. ... Yeah, us," Barkley said. "Like we're out there jacking up a hundred 3s a night."

When Redick first broached the ratings issue, he argued against the widespread belief that the volume of 3-point shots being taken is prompting too many teams to play the same style and making the games less interesting.

"I don't think the league is as homogenized as a lot of people make it out to be," Redick said at the time. "There are certain rosters and certain players that because of their skill set, it makes sense to shoot a lot of 3s. What I think gets lost a little bit in the amount of 3-point attempts is what has been taken away, which is a steady decline in long 2s."

Redick said that 3s have also led to an uptick in points near the basket, as defenses cannot simply clog the inside because they must have personnel spread out on the perimeter to guard deep shots.

"The 3 has allowed more space for people to actually score at the rim and score in the paint," Redick said. "So that's the strategy."

Redick, a former NBA analyst for ESPN, also offered a lengthy take on how the game is covered by the league's television rights partners in TNT and ESPN.

"I don't think we as -- and by we, I was part of it -- we as the sort of national partners have done a good job of storytelling, of celebrating the game," Redick said. "If I'm a casual fan and you tell me every time I turn on the television that the product sucks, well I'm not going to watch the product. And that's really what has happened over the last 10 to 15 years. I don't know why. It's not funny to me. Nothing is entertaining to me. This game should be celebrated."

Redick refrained from naming names in delivering his critique. However, Barkley, apparently, believed it was directed at him.

"JJ, you come for the king, you better not miss," Barkley said, paraphrasing a line from the character Omar from "The Wire" on HBO. "Because I can get you, brother. Remember, I got your Lakers games. You can't hide them flaws they got. You're just a dead man walking. They got rid of Frank Vogel, who did a good job. They got rid of Darvin Ham, who did a good job. But you came out there thinking you were going to change things with that same ugly girl you went on a date with. The Lakers stink."

Long before Barkley suggested Redick's job could be in jeopardy, the first-year coach acknowledged it himself. Before his first training camp coaching the Lakers even began, he told ESPN: "There's no assurances in this industry. I recognize that at any point in time, I could be let go. That's a reality."

Barkley continued: "He came in there thinking, 'I can make this thing work.' The hell you can. You can put some makeup on that pig. The Lakers stink, man. Come on, man."

L.A. is currently No. 6 in the Western Conference with a 19-14 record.

Redick is not the first Lakers figure to be involved in a tête-à-tête with Barkley.

In 2017, while playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers, LeBron James ripped into Barkley as well.

"He's a hater," James told ESPN at the time. "What makes what he says credible? Because he's on TV?"