Getty Los Angeles Lakers guard JR. Smith.
The Los Angeles Lakers arrived at the NBA bubble in Orlando on Thursday night but the newest member of the team, JR Smith, is already having some issues. After going on a number of epic rants during his first night in the bubble, Smith was back on Instagram Live on Friday morning and started to reveal some information. For some reason, over the year, the veteran has been known as the “Henny God” because of his apparent love of Hennessy.
However, Smith revealed on Friday that he doesn’t drink Hennessy.
“Christopher Columbus founded America… no he didn’t,” Smith said. “I drink Hennessy… no I don’t.”
This isn’t the first time that Smith has gone to battle with people who claim he loves Hennessy. Earlier this year, he told Bleacher Report that he hates the drink.
“I don’t even drink Henny bro. I don’t,” he said. “It’s not my s—, bro. I actually hate it. I don’t even like the way it tastes. I hate that s— for real.”
Smith believes that a misinterpreted picture might be the reason for the confusion.
“The funny thing is the picture that everybody talks about with me drinking Henny, it’s a champagne bottle,” he said. “So, I don’t even know how that even came about.”
One thing was very clear from Smith’s Instagram Live: He’s fed up with hearing the Hennessy jokes. Unfortunately for him, the internet doesn’t really care about feelings so he’s going to be hearing these jokes for a very long time.
Smith Explains Why He’s Wearing No. 21
Over the last several years, Smith has worn the number five on his jersey. However, he’s switching things up this season and has decided to don number 21. According to the man himself, he’s wearing the number to honor NFL legend Deion Sanders and Dajuan Wagner, who had his NBA career cut short because of health problems.
The only other notable Laker to wear the number was five-time champion and former Defensive Player of the Year Michael Cooper. Cooper used to play third fiddle to Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabba. Perhaps Smith can find new life playing behind LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Obviously, Smith isn’t anywhere near the defensive force that Cooper was and he probably won’t be starting – at least not at first. That said, Smith gets a bad wrap sometimes, but he’s a capable shooter and should be good for some easy points off the bench.
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Smith Reveals Message He’ll Have on Jersey
a few of the highlights (so far) from JR’s Instagram Live happening right now:
– he will have “Justice Now” on one jersey and “Enough” on another
– he chose the number 21 because of Deion Sanders and Dajuan Wagner
– he DOES NOT drink Hennessy
A big change the NBA is implementing for the reboot is that players can put messages on the back of their jerseys instead of their last names. The messages that Smith has chosen are “Justice Now” and “Enough.” The messages for every Lakers player probably won’t be revealed until basketball starts getting played.
There are probably a lot of creative thoughts that will be put into this for players across the team.
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