The NBA world was likely expecting it, given offseason chatter, but even after Chris Paul’s retirement has been officially announced, it doesn’t feel real. With the big news dropping earlier today, reactions and tributes poured in, including one from a familiar face: former teammate and heated rival, JJ Redick.

Redick, now head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, addressed the media as part of a routine practice session. When asked about an on-court moment from Paul that stood out to him, Redick answered, “My rookie year, I was in a suit, and this is when we hated each other. And he came over during a dead ball. He was in the left corner, and I was behind the bench.”

Redick continued, “He goes, ‘Yeah, this is a lot different from college, isn’t it, JJ?’ And I said, ‘I f—— hate that guy.’ Damn.” During his rookie season with the Orlando Magic, Redick only played in 42 of their regular season games, logging just under 15 minutes a game.

He was a benchwarmer. Meanwhile, Paul was the starting point guard and a budding star on a Hornets team that would make it to the playoffs next year.

The room laughed along with Redick, with one reporter asking him why Paul picked him out. Another from the crowd answered, “ACC.” Years of rivalry between Duke and Wake Forest during Redick and Paul’s time at each saw pride and irritation.

Paul saw Redick as the only way a competitor sees their opponent: someone to needle, test, and keep beneath him until proven otherwise, and with that one line in the corner, CP3 crystalized the college-to-NBA tension between the two.

But their relationship took an intriguing twist a few years later, when rivalry turned into partnership. In 2013, Redick joined the LA Clippers, the team Paul had joined just a few years ago, and after they became teammates, their dynamic shifted.

Redick reflected on their time together, saying, “When I was his teammate, the thing that I loved the most was our non-verbal synergy. And it’s hard to capture that in a single play or a single moment.”

Redick added, “I always talk about teams feeling like an organism that function together and when a team is really functioning together there’s a connective tissue to that and I don’t think there was a player that I played with that I felt more of a connective tissue than Chris Paul.”

The guy who once embarrassed him during a dead ball became the same person Redick synced with better than anyone else in his career; a full-circle moment revealed only when Chris stepped away from the game.

JJ Redick Reflects on Chris Paul’s Career Growth and Legacy

When asked how Chris Paul will be remembered after his retirement, Redick refused to define him. “He’ll be whatever people decide it is. I’m not going to craft a narrative.”

However, he admitted something far more revealing: “The arc of our relationship is very interesting; from going for a decade plus of quite literally hating each other to feeling like he’s a part of my family.”

What’s surprised Redick most is observing Paul after his own playing days ended.

“Getting to watch him evolve as a player, as a competitor, as a leader in the later stages, particularly after I retired, has been actually really fun for me. It’s, I think, rare that you see guys who have accomplished as much as he’s accomplished to grow in the ways that he grew, both as a player and a person.”

That type of late-career growth, especially from a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer, is rare, and clearly something Redick appreciated witnessing.

But in his mind, nothing stood out more than what their teams used to talk about constantly. “We used to talk about this with the Clippers all the time,  squeezing the juice out of a possession. And he was the master of that. He squeezed the juice out of every possession. And that’s the micro version of him. It’s just manipulating the game, thinking the game, squeezing the juice out of every possession. He squeezed the juice out of his career.”

For a player of Paul’s stature to dominate for two decades through sheer intelligence, Redick’s conclusion is clear: “The game will miss him, and I’m sure he’ll have some amazing opportunities in retirement.”