Who’s a Professional? Not J.R. Smith!

It’s funny how you look at  certain basketball players and try to understand the mindset of that person just from watching them on T.V. I have been watching J.R. Smith since he got drafted out of high school and I have been trying to understand his game for the longest time. I had the pleasure of meeting this man after the game against the Bobcats in 2012. As we walked from the arena to the hotel we discussed my book Hustle: Street Power. He seemed like he had a good head on his shoulders. But as far as his game, I can see he is a streaky shooter and when he gets hot that man can drain a three. He is also a great dunker when he can get to the lane just like he did on Gary Neal. That is one thing I can honestly say about J.R. Smith and it is sad because I really can’t think of anything else good about that dude.

J.R. Smith has been in the league since 2004 and has a career average of 13 points and 2 assists. Which is shocking to me because he can easily average 20 points off the bench and he has been coming off the bench his entire career. For someone who has come out of high school like Kevin Garnett, Tyson Chandler, Tracy Mcgrady, Kobe Bryant, and LeBron James he has not succeeded like they have in their great careers in the NBA. They have shown great professionalism over the years. J.R. Smith has taken his career to a level of (what in the world is this man thinking?).

He was suspended at the beginning of the season for five games for violating the Anti-Drug Program during the off-season. Last year he was suspended in the playoffs (when they needed him) for elbowing Jason Terry in the face. It’s like, “dude, when are you going to grow up?” Well, that question was answered earlier this week when the past three games he played against Houston, Dallas, and Detroit, he felt like he needed to untie players shoelaces. I mean come on dude, you have got to be kidding me with this childish mess. I have been watching the NBA my entire life and I have seen things like John Starks throwing the basketball off of the shot clock or the classic practice rant by Allen Iverson. But, never in my life have I ever seen a professional basketball player untie another mans shoes on the court during a game until J.R Smith. It has really gotten to a point when you just look at someone and say, “kick this man out the league for acting so stupid.” He has not contributed to the New York Knicks at all this season shooting 35 percent from the field after winning Sixth Man of the Year last year for the same team. How in the world do you get worse after having the best year of your career? How do you say during the season that your knee is hurting you but you’re on the court untying shoelaces? My favorite though is after the Heat game in an interview he basically didn’t say any apologies at all but “it is what it is”. Ohhh! But he waited to tweet an apology after the game. Maaannn sit down somewhere!

The Knicks are now looking to trade J.R. Smith according to ESPN. I have been preaching and preaching about trading him in my last post about the Knicks team as a whole. I really can’t wait to see what happens over the next few weeks but in all actuality he might not get traded just because no other team will want to deal with his antics. He continues to say that he is going to act right and be a better person year after year and yet he never changes. So, I actually do not see him playing in the NBA in the next few years if not the rest of this season because Hardaway Jr. is showing that he does not mind taking his minutes and contributing to winning.