The glory days of cruel and unusual rookie hazings in sports are no more, as first-year players in the NBA, NFL and other leagues are much more likely to be forced to carry around a Dora The Explorer stuffed animal, rather than being duct taped to a goal post and tortured. This has been a great development for the youngsters coming up in today's NBA, but that road was paved on the blood, sweat and tears of rookies gone by.
During a recent episode of the JJ Redick Podcast, the New Orleans Pelicans' veteran explained one of the harrowing experiences he endured during his rookie season with the Orlando Magic in 2006.
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According to Redick, his teammates coaxed him into a chair in the locker room under the guise that he would be apologizing to the team for being late to practice. However, the minute he sat down their devious plan sprung into action.
"As soon as I sat in the chair like three guys grabbed me and they duct taped me to the chair. And then they stuck me in the shower and the water was running, it was super cold, and they left it cold. They sat me in front of the cold water in the shower for like an hour. Everybody left practice and then the equipment manager found me like an hour later."
Redick laughed as he told the story so it's clear he doesn't hold any ill will towards his former Magic teammates, which includes the likes of Grant Hill, Bo Outlaw, Hedo Turkoglu, Dwight Howard, Pat Garrity and Jameer Nelson. You can listen to Redick's recollection of the events in the audio clip embedded below.
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