UNC Basketball: The 10 Duke players UNC fans hated most

J.J. Redick

Some players are bothered by the fact than an opposing fan base — or in this case, everyone — doesn’t like them. But the way that fans hated J.J. Redick certainly didn’t have that effect on him. In fact, Redick fed off of it, and even went as far to say that it fueled him during games.

He would often be the aggressor during exchanges with fans, taunting the crowd after he knocked down a three, or irritating them with the cocky smile on his face after a big win. Redick’s on-court production was enough for UNC basketball fans to hate him for the four years he spent in Durham, but those things made it nearly impossible for them not to.

For all that he was antics-wise, Redick was a great player. He averaged 19.9 points per game for his career, and shot better than 40 percent from three-point range. He also converted an outstanding 91.2 percent of his free throw attempts, and missed just 64 of the 726 he attempted while at Duke.

Redick was a two-time first team All-ACC selection, two-time ACC Player of the Year, two-time consensus first team All-American and the 2006 National Player of the Year. He held the ACC’s all-time scoring record with 2,769 points for three years before UNC’s Tyler Hansbrough broke it. The latter is still the conference’s all-time leading scorer.

There’s no denying Redick’s worth as a player, and that’s enough for some fans to hate him. It was his confidence, cockiness, showmanship and antics that earned him the majority of hate he received at Duke, which by his admission, probably only made him better.