A Global Phenom JR Smith is an NBA champion,
a convicted felon, an accused gang member, and possibly one of the most
memed basketball stars in history. He's currently worth around $35 million,
all of which Smith earned playing professional basketball across the globe.
One thing's for sure; Smith brings a little insanity with him wherever he goes!
Shirtless Partying After winning the
NBA championship in 2016, the Cavs took a trip to Vegas to celebrate their come from
behind victory. The Cavs had climbed their way back from a 3-1 deficit, so
some hard-core celebrating was called for—and no one is better at wild partying than JR Smith.
During their official team party at the Las Vegas club XS,
Smith wasted almost no time in removing his shirt. He spent the rest of his time at XS shirtless,
drinking, dancing, and partying with his teammates. Even after Vegas,
Smith could be seen getting off the team plane in Cleveland, with, you guessed it, no shirt on.
The media had a field day reporting on Smith's shirtlessness. The more they wrote about it,
the more iconic the look became. All the attention prompted JR to commission a t-shirt with his
tattooed torso printed on it. Even when JR was wearing a shirt, he still appeared shirtless.
President Obama even called him out on his wardrobe choices. The president instructed
Cavs coach Tyronn Lue to make sure Smith was wearing a shirt when appearing on camera.
Early Years Smith was born
in 1984 in New Jersey, where, at a young age, he fell in love with sports. In fact,
while attending high school, JR couldn't decide which sport to play. Ultimately,
he had to choose one. Very few athletes play multiple sports professionally. Between baseball,
football, and basketball, Smith chose to focus on basketball during his senior year.
Even JR's NBA career began unconventionally when the young high school phenom signed up
for the 2004 NBA Draft. Even though Smith could have gone to the esteemed North Carolina Tarheel
basketball program, an opportunity many of his peers would have killed for, JR opted for the
'go big or go home' strategy. He had just won co-MVP at the McDonald's All-American game.
He shared the honor with none other than Dight Howard, and it paid off.
With the 18th overall pick, the New Orleans Hornets drafted the young 18-year-old Smith,
not knowing what they were getting themselves into.
NBA 2004 was a good year for Smith. Right
off the bat, he lived up to the hype he created at the All-American game. In his first six months, JR
played well enough to earn the Western Conference Rookie of the month for January, February,
and March. During the All-Star break, he even entered the NBA dunk contest, finishing third.
However, in his second season, Smith's points per game average dropped from
10.3 points per game to 7.7. Hornets coach Byron Scott attributed the 3 point drop to
Smith's poor work ethic, leading coach Scott to eventually remove Smith from
the starting rotation. The NBA sophomore had fallen out of favor with his coaches.
In 2006 JR was traded to the Chicago Bulls. But they apparently didn't
want him and traded him to the Denver Nuggets six days later.
The Nuggets gave Smith the role of sixth-man. The Sitch man is a key player who comes off the
bench when one of the starters needs a break. JR flourished in his new role. However, before
Smith could reach consistent star status with the Nuggets, he had his first brush with controversy.
Late in a regular-season game against the Knicks, JR helped spark the biggest brawl of the season.
Smith was trying to score on a fast break when a Knicks player,
Mardy Collins, hooked his arm around JR's neck in mid-air,
bringing Smith down to the floor. Smith did not appreciate the flagrant foul and tried to confront
Collins but not before Knicks guard Nate Robinson held JR back from potentially hurting Collins.
Smith and Robinson turned on each other, and Smith wrestled Robinson
into a group of photographers squatting out of bounds. By this point, several players,
coaches, and referees have migrated to the scene, including Smith's teammate Carmelo
Anthony and the player who initially instigated the fight, Mardy Collins.
Carmelo sucker-punched Mardy in the face as revenge for J.R. Collins' teammate
Jared Jeffries tried to retaliate against Melo and chased him across the court while Knicks
players and coaches grabbed his jersey to stop Jeffries from attacking the backpedaling Anthony.
After the brawl ended NBA officials, primarily commissioner David Stern,
suspended the players involved for several games, resulting in the implicated players losing $1.2
million in fines. The brawl became one of the most heavily penalized on-court incidents in NBA
history. Other fights include the Pacers-Pistons brawl two years before.
You may recall that on-court fight being dubbed Malice in the Palace.
China Adventure After the Knicks-Nuggets
brawl, Smith's time on the court became relatively normal. That is, until the 2011
NBA lockout shut down the league, forcing many players to seek employment overseas.
In 2011, JR signed a one-year $3 million deal with the Chinese Basketball Association team, the
Zhejiang Golden Bulls. It was the largest contract in CBA history, and Smith earned every cent of it.
In just 32 games, JR averaged 34.4 points per game and had four 50-plus-point games.
In just one game, Smith scored 60 points on 14
3-pointers. He also had success on defense, averaging 2.5 steals per game.
Suing China
When the lockout finally ended in 2012, Smith, alongside many other players, returned from
overseas to play in the NBA. However, he was the only player to sue his former team.
In 2012, Smith claimed that the Golden Bulls owed him $1 million from his $3 million one-year deal.
To obtain the remainder of his contract, Smith sued his former Chinese team. However, the case
was more complicated than the Golden Bulls simply withholding money from Smith due to stinginess.
While playing in China, Smith had accumulated a little over $1 million in fines from the Golden
Bulls. The CBA team claimed Smith skipped almost all of his practices, neglected other team duties,
and faked an injury to get out of playing. They also accused Smith of wasting $3,000 on food he
never ate but kept ordering "just to see if they would keep bringing it to the room."
All accusations considered, it is unclear who is telling the truth. Or at least
an exaggerated version of the truth. Especially with $1 million on the line.
When JR returned to the States, he no longer wished to play for the Nuggets,
probably because of his rocky relationship with head coach George Karl. In February,
Smith signed with the last team you would ever expect him to play for: the New York Knicks.
Lebron Despite Smith's
salty history with his new team, the former Nugget had his best season yet, averaging 18
points per game. The rest of his tenure with the Knicks proved to be just as successful.
Smith played 3 more years in New York before signing with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2015.
In Cleveland, JR would play with his friend and unofficial "king" of the league, Lebron James.
While playing with King James, JR reached the NBA finals 4 times. He won his first title in 2016.
He performed well in his role of long-range marksman. Lebron and
Kyrie Irving often chose to pass to Smith when they didn't have a shot,
knowing JR would most likely shoot regardless of how far he was.
Smith would shoot the ball almost any time he touched it. However, it was the one time he
didn't shoot a wide-open 3, that JR would turn himself into one of the biggest memes of 2018.
Memed It was the end of
Game 1 of the 2018 Cavs Warriors NBA Finals. With 4.1 seconds left on the clock, JR Smith rebounded
the ball off a missed free throw. The score was tied at 107, but Smith didn't know that.
He wrongfully assumed his team was ahead and dribbled the ball around
for 2 seconds before Lebron yelled at him to pass the ball. JR did pass it off in time,
but not enough for his team to get off a decent shot.
That same night the internet went crazy, creating several iconic memes
depicting Smith with a confused look on his face. For days after Game 1,
JR went from relatively famous NBA basketball player to an internet meme.
The Cavs were swept by the Warriors in the series. Whether or not JR's blunder played
a major role is left to speculation. JR finished his basketball career with Lebron
in LA, where Smith played a minor role in helping King James win another NBA title.
By the time Smith retired in 2020, he had accumulated a vast collection of championship
rings and controversies. We've already mentioned a few, but those are only the tip of the iceberg.
Crashed His most infamous incident was on the streets
of New Jersey and involved two highly publicized deaths. In 2007, when Smith was playing for the
Nuggets, he, his teammate Carmelo Anthony, and longtime friend Andre Bell were driving through
Millstone in New Jersey when a car hit their SUV after Smith drove the vehicle through a stop sign.
The SUV belonged to Anthony, but Smith was driving. Upon impact,
JR and Bell were thrown from the vehicle and onto the road. However,
the injuries they sustained differed in severity. Neither was wearing a seatbelt.
While Smith suffered from scratches and an injured shoulder, JR's friend Andre Bell
sustained a head injury that proved fatal. He passed away in the hospital two days later.
Though Smith was devastated, his grief was the least of his problems. Not long after the tragic
news was reported, questions arose regarding Smith's mental state at the time of the accident,
particularly focusing on whether or not JR was driving under the influence.
A year later, in October 2008, a New Jersey grand jury decided
JR had not committed vehicular manslaughter, a charge the state was trying to make stick.
Instead, Smith pleaded guilty to reckless driving. The New Jersey court sentenced JR
to 90 days in jail. However, Smith made a deal with the court that he would perform 500 days of
community service in exchange for 60 days taken off of his sentence. Of the remaining 30 days,
Smith served 24 before being released in July 2009.
For his conviction of reckless driving,
the NBA suspended him for 7 games during the 2009-2010 season.
Gang Affiliation Though Smith was
never prosecuted or investigated for them, the spelling choices in some of his tweets sparked
another controversy around JR's affiliation with a gang.
In 2009, shortly after being released from prison, Smith closed his Twitter account.
He'd been accused of writing his tweets in the spelling style of the Blood Gang. The Bloods
are also known for replacing the letter "C" with a "K" in their writings. After getting out of jail,
Smith tweeted: "I just Kame home. ... I kouldnt have done it with out yall,"
It is unclear who he's thanking in this tweet. However, many speculate Smith is
giving thanks to Blood gang members for helping him get through jail, and giving them a passive
shout in two other tweets where Smith wrote: "Vegas here I kome!" and "Kant wait to get bak
in the swing of things," just to make sure his followers knew the "K's" were not mere typos.
When Smith restarted his Twitter, it didn't take long for him to tweet something else
controversial. This one was more light-hearted, but it still resulted in a hefty NBA player fine.
In 2012, while at home watching a basketball game, JR posted a picture of himself watching
the game. What made the photo fine-worthy in the eyes of the NBA was Love and Hip Hop
star Tahiry Jose's large posterior in the foreground. The photo came with a caption
that joked about how her butt was so large it interfered with Smith's view of the TV.
Once the NBA caught wind of the photo, they fined JR
$25,000, even after he deleted the post of Jose's posterior.
Lil Wayne Speaking of hip hop,
JR is also known to be friends with rap superstar Lil Wayne, who he parties with on
occasion. On one occasion, he accidentally became two sides of a love triangle.
According to a story told by Wayne on the Dan Lebatard show, while Smith and Wayne
were partying at a casino during the NBA all-star break something wild happened.
Wayne says that a girl had brought him to her hotel room in vegas to
"hang out." Unbeknownst to Wayne, the girl's room was being shared by JR.
When Wayne walked in, he discovered JR was planning to "hang out" with the girl as well.
When they realized what was going on,
both men left the room, their friendship forever changed. Regardless of that awkward situation,
the love triangle hasn't stopped Lil Wayne from being a positive influence in Smith's head.
One study, conducted by Hashtag Important in 2015,
found that JRs on court performance spikes upwards whenever Wayne releases new music.
Smith's career average points per game under regular, non-Wayne circumstances is 13.2,
while his shot percentage comes in at 37.2%.
But after the day of a Lil Wayne album release, Smith's points per game average skyrockets to
19.3, bolstered by a shot percentage of 42.%. That's a 5% increase from his non-Wayne average.
Besides music, Smith and Wayne are seen partying together from time to
time. When they're not partying, Smith can be seen living it up with other people,
sometimes, without wearing a certain article of clothing.
Soup Incident Two years later, in 2018,
Smith pulled one of his more comical impulsive stunts.
Smith was suspended for 1 game for throwing a bowl of soup at Cavaliers assistant coach Damon
Jones. The reason Smith felt compelled to use soup as a dangerous projectile against his coach is
not clear. But it is certainly one of JR's more original controversies.
George Floyd Protest Smith's most recent controversy
occurred during a George Floyd protest when JR was caught on video attacking a protester who
had attempted to vandalize his car parked on the street. Smith claims the protester,
or as JR called him, "white boy," smashed his truck window with a skateboard.
That particular incident occurred in May of 2020, bringing up the important question:
what will JR Smith do in the coming years?
Especially now that he is retired and has so much extra time on his
hands. Oh wait, now he’s ready to play college golf at North Carolina A&T?!
He recently joined as a walk-on 36 year old Freshman on the golf team.
Are we all really ready for JR on the PGA Tour one day?
Click to watch one of these next videos!