Potential Laker, Free Agent J.R. Smith Reveals What NBA Broadcasts Miss

lebron james jr smith

Getty LeBron James with J.R. Smith.

J.R. Smith may not being playing NBA basketball just yet, but his presence on social media is surely felt.

The NBA Champion tweeted this morning that NBA broadcasts should have an all-female broadcast.

H/T Khristina Williams of Girlstalksports

Earlier this week on Instagram, Smith was transparent with his followers.

Smith was asked if he’d consider playing for the Los Angeles Lakers or Los Angeles Clippers.

“They both ain’t call yet,” Smith replied.

Interesting because Smith did have a workout with the Los Angeles Lakers within the last month. The prospects of Smith’s workout were first reported via Heavy on January 25, per a Lakers source.

The degrees of separation between J.R. Smith are worth examining.

A client of Rich Paul’s Klutch Agency just like Lakers All-Star, LeBron James, Smith and James both won NBA Championships as members of the Clevland Cavaliers. Smith, James and teammates Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love beat Steph Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson’s Golden State Warriors in the 2016 NBA Finals.

“Unless you get LeBron’s seal of approval, I don’t know who he helps,” The Washington Post’s Ben Golliver told me this fall on the Scoop B Radio Podcast.

“And I think it’s unfortunate, I think it’s a situation where there have been red flags with him that have accumulated over the course of his career. I think that sometimes there’s a risk or verse approach from front offices where they just think like: ‘look, he might be able to help us, but he can really make me look bad if things don’t go well, so I don’t wanna risk it.’ You know? So I think it takes advocacy from one of his friends, whether if it’s a Kevin Love or a LeBron James to sort of get him into a spot.”

A New Jersey native, Smith grew up watching Lakers assistant coach, Jason Kidd guide his homestate, New Jersey Nets to two NBA Finals appearances in 2002 and 2003. The two would later become New York Knicks teammates last decade.

Smith admitted earlier this week on Instagram that Kidd was his favorite teammate.

Smith was selected No. 18 in the 2004 NBA Draft by the New Orleans Hornets out of Newark, New Jersey’s St. Benedict’s Preparatory High School. He has career averages of 12.5 points in stints with the Hornets, Denver Nuggets, New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers.

Smith last playe basketball on November 19, 2018, as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Now a free agent, Smith admits his desire to play for a contender. You always want to win,” he said.

“That’s the goal! You also want to play at the highest level possible.”

He believes he’s still in great shape: “I’m still better than 85% of the players on the court.”