J.J. Redick claims he saw caged woman in back of NYC livery cab

J.J. Redick will be entering his 13th NBA season this fall. (2015 Stacy Revere)

NBA journeyman J.J. Redick claims he freaked after seeing a woman apparently being caged under a blanket in the back of his car service in Manhattan, prompting him to jump out and call cops.

Redick shared the story on his “The J.J. Redick Podcast” on Thursday, saying it happened Wednesday in New York after he had done a photo shoot for the fashion line Mr. Porter.

The former Duke University and current Philadelphia 76ers guard said he was with his wife Chelsea and sister-in-law Kylee as they got into the Cadillac Escalade livery cab arranged by Mr. Porter.

As they motored through Manhattan, Kylee became “pale as a ghost” because she said someone was in the vehicle’s back storage area, according to Redick.

They demand the driver pull over, saying they saw a child or small woman in back, according to the hoopster. The driver then sped off, leaving Redick and his party on the sidewalk.

Redick, 34, said he called the NYPD.

The player later called the car service to complain — and were told the driver had been disciplined for bringing along another passenger in the front seat, according to Redick. There was no mention of any woman in the trunk, he said.

“So, possible scenarios here: I think best-case for everyone involved is that maybe his sister or his cousin, or maybe a girlfriend or wife needed a ride across town and they didn’t want to pay for an Uber or taxi. That’s probably best-case scenario,” Redick speculated.

“And then from there you can go darker. This is not funny, but child abduction, human trafficking. Like, Chelsea’s dead serious texting me today and she’s like, `I’m calling the FBI tip line and I’m opening a claim. This is serious.’ I don’t know what to make of it. It definitely was not a dog. I will say that. It was a human being in the back seat of his car, under a blanket in some sort of box or cage. That’s my story. ”

The NYPD could not immediately say if they had gotten a call and if they had found the black car in question.