PHILADELPHIA — J.J. Redick plans his meals, his naps, his shots and, well in advance of wearing them, even his socks. He eats the same kind of granola bar before every game. He has built a high-level career out of this mind-numbing preparation.
“It’s the only way I know how to be,” he said.
It is hard to catch him off guard, as his coach, Brett Brown of the Philadelphia 76ers, learned one night last summer. He was wooing Redick to the team and, as part of his pitch, he invited him onto the court with Joel Embiid, the team’s talented young center.