When pregame chapel services ended last Saturday at the Bradley Center, Bucks guard Michael Redd taped a program to the side of his locker and left it there when he went out to play a game against Utah.
The sheet contained talking points from the sermon of the day. As Redd relaxed on his chair after the game the first one on the list, visible over his right shoulder, seemed to leap off the page:
Take heed of greed.
The message was fitting on several fronts. Redd had just scored 57 points, breaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s 35-year-old franchise record. He took 32 shots -- three fewer than the combined total of the other four Milwaukee starters -- and made 18 of them to go along with 15 free throws.
Redd’s spectacular performance, arguably one of the greatest individual efforts ever by an athlete playing for a Milwaukee team, but it had one major downside.
"Unfortunately, we didn’t win the game," said Redd, whose fadeaway three-pointer bounced off the rim at the final horn as the Jazz won, 113-111. "It hurts that we lost. Even though it was a great night, personally, it hurt."
Asked to assess his performance, Redd answered in his usual manner. "It’s a blessing," he said. "God gets all the glory."
And the record?
"I didn’t know what the franchise record was," he said. "I didn’t study the history that much. You talk about Kareem, Oscar Robertson, Ray Allen, Glenn Robinson... I’m humbled. From where I came from, a second-round pick not know if he’s going to make the team, to this... It’s humbling."
That humble second-round pick, who played in just six games during his rookie season, is featured on the cover of the Bucks media guide and is currently leading the NBA in scoring at 31 points per game.
Take heed of greed.
Many of pro basketball’s more prolific scorers have been regarded as selfish and sometimes cocky players. While those qualities are necessary to some degree in order to play at a high level, Redd does not seem to embrace them. Asked if he needed to continue to "step up" for the Bucks to play well, he said: "I shouldn’t have to do that at all. We’ve got enough talent on this team to make plays. Some nights, I may score eight points and if we get the win, I’m fine with that. I shouldn’t have to score or shoot 30 times for us to win. I don’t want to."
Although he would love to see more consistent contributions from Redd’s supporting cast, Bucks coach Terry Stotts seems neither shocked nor bothered by Redd’s superstar statistics this season.
"I think he’s been efficient," Stotts said. "I don’t think we’re going into the game saying we’re trying to get him 28 or 30 points. I think he’s been pretty efficient. He’s making his free throws. He’s shooting well from three (-point range). I don’t think he’s out searching to score."
Stotts, who served as an assistant to George Karl when Redd joined the Bucks, has seen the young player transform himself from afterthought to all-star.
"When I think back to him as a rookie, obviously he was in a position -- even in practice -- where he wasn’t going to get the ball and get to play," Stotts said. "I thought he was a very good offensive rebounder from the two-guard spot. He was an above-average shooter, but not the shooter that he is now. He had a knack for scoring. If you watch clips of him at Ohio State, his shot has changed a little bit. He gets it off quicker. It’s a little more compact."
Redd’s work ethic has been well-documented. Stotts said the stories of him arriving at practice early and staying late are true. "Michael and Eric Snow are probably the hardest working guys I’ve seen in the NBA as far as before and after practice," he said.
Asked if he could have imagined his current success six years ago, Redd smiled.
"I’m not saying I didn’t have faith in my game; I knew I could play in this league," he said. "But to this level and to this magnitude, no. It’s a God thing. I can’t explain it."
Take heed of greed.
Though he works in an industry where almost inconceivable wealth often leads to equally mind-blowing excess, Redd does not seem to have a problem with greed. When he signed a six-year, $91 million contract with the Bucks, he purchased a church -- Philadelphia Deliverance Church of Christ – for his father, who preaches in Columbus, Ohio.
"God gets all the glory," Redd said. "Everything I do is to honor Him."
The sheet contained talking points from the sermon of the day. As Redd relaxed on his chair after the game the first one on the list, visible over his right shoulder, seemed to leap off the page:
Take heed of greed.
The message was fitting on several fronts. Redd had just scored 57 points, breaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s 35-year-old franchise record. He took 32 shots -- three fewer than the combined total of the other four Milwaukee starters -- and made 18 of them to go along with 15 free throws.
Redd’s spectacular performance, arguably one of the greatest individual efforts ever by an athlete playing for a Milwaukee team, but it had one major downside.
"Unfortunately, we didn’t win the game," said Redd, whose fadeaway three-pointer bounced off the rim at the final horn as the Jazz won, 113-111. "It hurts that we lost. Even though it was a great night, personally, it hurt."
Asked to assess his performance, Redd answered in his usual manner. "It’s a blessing," he said. "God gets all the glory."
And the record?
"I didn’t know what the franchise record was," he said. "I didn’t study the history that much. You talk about Kareem, Oscar Robertson, Ray Allen, Glenn Robinson... I’m humbled. From where I came from, a second-round pick not know if he’s going to make the team, to this... It’s humbling."
That humble second-round pick, who played in just six games during his rookie season, is featured on the cover of the Bucks media guide and is currently leading the NBA in scoring at 31 points per game.
Take heed of greed.
Many of pro basketball’s more prolific scorers have been regarded as selfish and sometimes cocky players. While those qualities are necessary to some degree in order to play at a high level, Redd does not seem to embrace them. Asked if he needed to continue to "step up" for the Bucks to play well, he said: "I shouldn’t have to do that at all. We’ve got enough talent on this team to make plays. Some nights, I may score eight points and if we get the win, I’m fine with that. I shouldn’t have to score or shoot 30 times for us to win. I don’t want to."
Although he would love to see more consistent contributions from Redd’s supporting cast, Bucks coach Terry Stotts seems neither shocked nor bothered by Redd’s superstar statistics this season.
"I think he’s been efficient," Stotts said. "I don’t think we’re going into the game saying we’re trying to get him 28 or 30 points. I think he’s been pretty efficient. He’s making his free throws. He’s shooting well from three (-point range). I don’t think he’s out searching to score."
Stotts, who served as an assistant to George Karl when Redd joined the Bucks, has seen the young player transform himself from afterthought to all-star.
"When I think back to him as a rookie, obviously he was in a position -- even in practice -- where he wasn’t going to get the ball and get to play," Stotts said. "I thought he was a very good offensive rebounder from the two-guard spot. He was an above-average shooter, but not the shooter that he is now. He had a knack for scoring. If you watch clips of him at Ohio State, his shot has changed a little bit. He gets it off quicker. It’s a little more compact."
Redd’s work ethic has been well-documented. Stotts said the stories of him arriving at practice early and staying late are true. "Michael and Eric Snow are probably the hardest working guys I’ve seen in the NBA as far as before and after practice," he said.
Asked if he could have imagined his current success six years ago, Redd smiled.
"I’m not saying I didn’t have faith in my game; I knew I could play in this league," he said. "But to this level and to this magnitude, no. It’s a God thing. I can’t explain it."
Take heed of greed.
Though he works in an industry where almost inconceivable wealth often leads to equally mind-blowing excess, Redd does not seem to have a problem with greed. When he signed a six-year, $91 million contract with the Bucks, he purchased a church -- Philadelphia Deliverance Church of Christ – for his father, who preaches in Columbus, Ohio.
"God gets all the glory," Redd said. "Everything I do is to honor Him."
Host of “The Drew Olson Show,” which airs 1-3 p.m. weekdays on The Big 902. Sidekick on “The Mike Heller Show,” airing weekdays on The Big 920 and a statewide network including stations in Madison, Appleton and Wausau. Co-author of Bill Schroeder’s “If These Walls Could Talk: Milwaukee Brewers” on Triumph Books. Co-host of “Big 12 Sports Saturday,” which airs Saturdays during football season on WISN-12. Former senior editor at OnMilwaukee.com. Former reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
