Clippers report: J.J. Redick gets a new forum with weekly podcast

J.J. Redick is known for covering a lot of ground, so give him nearly an hour and there’s no shortage of topics he might address.

The Clippers shooting guard said he thinks small ball is here to stay in the NBA. He would prefer the All-Star game rosters be expanded to 15 players in each conference. And he’s not too crazy about Cabernet Sauvignon.

“I think Cabernet is drowning in alcohol,” Redick said. “There’s no subtlety to it.”

All of these unfiltered takes emerged on Yahoo Sports’ “The Vertical Podcast” with J.J. Redick, which debuted Monday and made Redick a pioneer of sorts as the first NBA player to host his own weekly podcast.

“I was happy with it,” Redick said Tuesday. “I see some room for improvement in certain areas, but I think the flow was pretty good.”

Redick’s first guest on his 53-minute podcast was Jared Dudley, whom the Clippers acquired alongside Redick in the summer of 2013. The former teammates talked about their college battles when they played for Duke and Boston College, respectively, as well as Dudley’s injury-plagued season with the Clippers and then reviving his career with the Milwaukee Bucks and Washington Wizards.

Redick also briefly addressed the Blake Griffin brouhaha, saying the Clippers needed their power forward back from a broken hand and possible suspension as soon as possible. Griffin is expected to be out at least another month after punching team assistant equipment manager Matias Testi on Jan. 23 in Toronto.

“Once he is healthy and has paid his penance, whatever that may be,” Redick said, “we’ll welcome him back with open arms.”

A few things Redick would rather avoid in addition to Cabernet: The Beatles and “Breaking Bad,” both of which were addressed during a segment in which Redick discussed overrated things.

Redick made it clear on the podcast that he would devote about two hours a week to the show, leaving him with plenty of time to fulfill his obligations to the Clippers. Clippers Coach Doc Rivers said he agreed to Rivers’ hosting the podcast for another reason.

“J.J., you know he’s going to keep it Duke vanilla,” Rivers quipped.

Redick said he made a yearlong commitment to doing the podcast, necessitating the need for in-season shows.

“The way I see it is that I have nothing to lose,” Redick said. “If people like it, great. If people don’t like it, OK. My priorities are to be a basketball player. That’s my only concern. Any more questions you can direct to @jjredick. You can also go on iTunes and write a review with any comments or questions.”

Healing process

Rivers said he was not concerned about how Griffin and Testi would interact in the locker room once the longtime friends rejoined the Clippers.

“It’s happened with players in practice, and they tend to heal up,” Rivers said, referring to altercations. “They tend to get better. … It’s going to get healed. It’s going to be OK.”

Rivers said both Griffin and Testi could be back around the team soon. The Clippers are still waiting for the NBA to announce an expected suspension for Griffin as a result of the scuffle.

Etc.

Clippers veteran Paul Pierce, on being teammates with the quirky Lance Stephenson: “It’s just like when I was in Boston watching the Red Sox, seeing Manny [Ramirez] be Manny. I’m watching Lance be Lance.” … As expected, the Clippers signed center-forward Jeff Ayres to a second 10-day contract.

Up Next

CLIPPERS VS. MINNESOTA

When: 7:30.

Where: Staples Center.

On the air: TV: Prime; Radio: 980, 1330.

Records: Timberwolves 14-35. Clippers 32-16.

Record vs. Timberwolves: 2-0.

Update: The future may be promising for Minnesota because of rookie center Karl-Anthony Towns and second-year guard Andrew Wiggins, but the present isn’t so alluring. The Timberwolves completed a January in which they lost 14 of 16 games to fall into contention with Phoenix and the Lakers for the worst record in the Western Conference. The Clippers have a 14-game winning streak against the Timberwolves, their longest stretch of success against any team in franchise history.

Follow Ben Bolch on Twitter @latbbolch