“You’re Too Small”: NBA Star Reveals How a Charles Barkley Insult Pushed Him to do Better

Charles Barkley really surprises people with his words at times. Being a former NBA player and presently an analyst, he has a lot to say about the sport. Recently, Pelicans player JJ Redick remembered something Barkley told him long back.

Barkley once told Redick that he is ‘too small’ to be a shooting guard. Well, does that logic even fit in? Moreover, height doesn’t seem to be the basis for changing positions. Despite Charles telling him otherwise, Redick also believed in sticking to the shooting guard position.

“Hey man, there’s no way you’re going to be able to be a two-guard in the NBA. I said, ‘Okay’. And he said you need to be a point guard. I said, ‘Okay’.” Redick narrated on his podcast, “He (Barkley) said, ‘You’re just too small.’ And I remember thinking to myself ‘What? Why do I have to change positions? I’ll make it work.'”

JJ Redick is not the only short heightened shooting guard in the NBA

JJ is 6 ft 3 inch and that may be considered to be an average height in basketball. But the short ones like Stephen Curry are also doing an incredible job there.

Redick was drafted back in 2006 by Orlando Magic. He was known for his 3-point shooting even in his college career. After being traded to a couple of franchises like 76ers and Clippers, he hopped to Pelicans last season.

In the history of the NBA, there were notable shooting guards with almost the same height as Redick. Renowned names like Allen Iverson and Dwyane Wade are some of those who made excellent players at that position despite being around 6 ft.

Charles Barkley himself was a star player for Pheonix Suns in his time and he played as a power forward to accomplish a fair share of NBA achievements. Also, he is an 11-time NBA All-Star and won two gold medals in the Olympics as part of the Dream Team.

Well, JJ Redick did ‘make it work’ as a shooting guard over his years in the NBA. He didn’t have to switch positions for apparently being ‘small’. But it would have been interesting to see if he had listened to Barkley’s advice.

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