Without a doubt, shooting guard J.R. Smith was a fan favorite with the Cavaliers. He had a shoot-first, ask-questions-considerably-later mentality — and when he didn’t, fans wondered why.
Mostly, he will be remembered for his big third quarter in Game 7 of the NBA Finals against the Warriors in 2016. It was a game, of course, that the LeBron James-led Cavs won on the road for their first and only championship.
Smith was part of a Cavs team that went to the Finals every season from 2014-18, meeting the Warriors each time. Later, he went on to become a meme, as anyone who watched the 2018 Finals can remember, with Smith failing to call a timeout near the end of a critical game. James’ reaction is actually what became the meme, but if it wasn’t for Smith, the meme would never exist.
Either way, Smith suggested it was all pretty much a blast.
“I had a great time in Cleveland. The fans were great, regardless of the meme or not,” he told Michael Scotto of HoopsHype on the HoopsHype Podcast. “Winning that championship was something that will forever be in the history of basketball, but especially in the history of Cleveland, especially in the fashion that we did.”
Not long after the departure of James to the Lakers, Smith was sent home by the Cavs’ front office and eventually released. While no one remembers, he eventually joined James with the Lakers. But when it comes to production, his career really ended with the Cavs.
“I hated that it ended the way it did because I feel like that’s the only thing people harp on as much as we accomplished as a team,” he told Scotto. “On top of that, we went to four straight (Finals) with obviously a dynasty in Golden State. Then, they acquired (Kevin Durant) too. So that situation was a whole different dynamic. We lost (Kyrie Irving) too. So there were many variables. I’m thankful for my time in Cleveland. It was a great experience.”
Smith retired, went to college and signed on with the North Carolina A&T golf team. He is currently the subject of a four-part Amazon docuseries entitled Redefined: J.R. Smith.
You can check out more on the Cavs in the latest Dribbles right here, and always on our Cavs page. The full Smith interview on the HoopsHype podcast is below.
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The most underrated, totally ignored, and crucial offensive rebound in NBA Finals history..
Or, could have been. Had the team leader kept his composure, he could have led his team to victory in OT. It’s tied with five minutes to play. Instead, softest meltdown by a team leader in NBA Finals history. He pouted. With overall body language, pointed the finger.
Great rebound by J.R. Smith though. That rebound.. THAT FREAKING REBOUND.. saved.. SAVED!…Cavs regulation from a final possession by the best shooters in NBA Finals history the Golden State Warriors. Gave us 5 more to win it instead, tied zero zero. That SHOULD have counted for something. That DOES count for something. Especially on the court. The opportunity it created was real. Just for a moment.
It got squashed for no reason. No reason because had we called timeout, took a final shot, LeBron might have missed. He doesn’t make every shot. We then go to OT anyways. Nothing is lost. LeBron often has a high basketball IQ, but simple logical reasoning wasn’t there for him, as a leader, at that moment. One could argue, and not be necessarily wrong, that his mental error, his response, did more to diminish our chances overall than did J.R.’s mental error of not calling timeout when you include getting that rebound. (hint: the math would involve Splash Bros FG% (if no rebound), LeBron’s FG%, the amount of time left, refs tendency to call fouls at the end, etc).
J.R. deserves a lot more respect than he’s gotten since that play.