ETB’s NBA Poetry Corner, Featuring the Orlando Magic’s J.J. Redick
April 10, 2008
You know J.J. Redick both as one of the greatest pure shooters in college basketball history as well as one of the most underused lottery picks of the 2006 NBA draft. But there’s more lurking beneath Redick’s clean-cut persona: an inner poet.
On February 16, 2005, while still playing collegiate ball for the Duke Blue Devils, a young, introspective Redick published a selection of original poems on Sports Illustrated’s website, and the world was never quite the same again. In today’s edition of ETB’s NBA Poetry Corner, we humbly present one of these untitled compositions.
It reveals a young man grappling with an uncertain future, but who “moves forth with the strength of a condor” and who is aware that his destiny will not be told by “the creases of [his] palm.” And more importantly, it reveals there’s much more to J.J. Redick, the man, than free-throw and three-point shooting. Much more.
Untitled
By J.J. Redick
I can’t see what my future has in store
but I move forth with the strength of a condor
The courage of a warrior
The commitment of an American soldier
Despite this weight on my shoulder
my inner forces circulate to form
a nucleus of an unbreakable bond
These words describe the soundtrack to my life’s song
My mind and body united like the Colors of Benneton
My destiny isn’t told by the creases of my palm
A sharp thorn once cut my soul
The blood flowed
But no bandage would cover the wound
I couldn’t help but stare at the distant moon
Waiting for a resolution to come at an instant soon
I asked the Lord, “What am I to do?”
He said, “Son, I made the sky blue
The rain falls because of me
Leaves change colors on a fall tree
I was the inspiration to Martin Luther King
I’m the reason Ray Charles could sing
I’ve changed others through and through
And my son, I’ll do the same to you”
Tags: J.J. Redick, NBA Poetry, Orlando Magic
No Comments »Posted by Brian Spencer on Apr. 10, 2008 at 12:29 pm in NBA
