LOS ANGELES – Out of the NBA for more than a year and a half, the Los Angeles Lakers’ newest member, JR Smith, detailed the mental cost that time out of the game caused him.
“I spent a lot of time depressed,” Smith told reporters in a video conference on Monday. “And it lasted a few months, where I just didn’t do it. I’m a great video player, I didn’t even play 2K anymore. I don’t want to play hoop, I don’t want to exercise, I don’t want to play 2K, I don’t want to do anything with basketball.”
Making his first public comments after signing with the Lakers last week to replace starting point guard Avery Bradley, who opted for the remainder of the season primarily because of family concerns, Smith said he will not take this opportunity for granted. Despite the fact that other replacement players in the league join teams with some sort of language in their contract that will be addressed next season, it only focuses on the immediate role being asked of it.
“I left for a while, and being someone who has been in the league predominantly for most of his adult life, when that takes something away from you, it gives you a culture shock and you obviously don’t understand what you lost until he left” said Smith, who parted ways with the Cleveland Cavaliers in tough terms in November 2018. “So for me more than anything, I just want to appreciate the timing of what it is and if it will be next year or ever again, I just want to enjoy myself. every possible moment you have. “
Smith certainly had his moments in Cleveland. He helped lift the Cavs to their first and only championship in franchise history, catching on in the third quarter of Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals to allow Cleveland to keep up with a record Golden team. State Warriors. He also helped the Cavs miss an unexpected opportunity in Game 1 of the 2018 Finals by forgetting the score at the end of regulation before Cleveland finally lost in overtime.
The latter sparked a meme that is still circulating on the internet, showing a puzzled LeBron James spreading his arms in frustration, directing his disgust at Smith over the mistake.
Smith said having gone through high-risk experiences like James’s, they managed to reach four finals in four years as teammates, it’s the value it will bring to the team, beyond the ability to make shots for which it is known.
“First hand, I know how Bron can get mad, and there are people who are not going to know how to deal with it,” Smith said. “So it gives that understanding gap, it’s still about winning.”
Smith made reference to ESPN’s The Last Dance docuseries, prompting some viewers to criticize Michael Jordan’s sometimes harsh interactions with his teammates at the Chicago Bulls.
James, Smith said, has a similar will to win.
“Sometimes it goes wrong,” Smith said of James. “And you need that bridge as a player to get to the next player and say, ‘Listen man, it’s nothing personal, [don’t get caught up in] who was right, who was wrong.
“I think it is a good balance between him and me, because he knows very well that he can challenge anyone else, I will challenge him and vice versa.”
Smith, 34, has known James, 35, since they were both in high school. He can interpret the behavior of the four-time MVP for one season better than most.
“When you get a person at that level, it’s kind of intimidating for a lot of those people who don’t know how to challenge authority,” said Smith. “But that’s something I never had a problem with. So talk to him, get [into] things like that, having difficult conversations with our teammates, I think is the most important thing. Because that is the only way we grow as men and as a team. “
Smith, a 37.3% shooter out of 3 in 15 seasons with New Orleans, Denver, New York and Cleveland, Smith gives Lakers coach Frank Vogel another new scoring option on his bench, along with Dion Waiters, who He was added to the team before the coronavirus hiatus but is yet to play a game in the Lakers’ uniform.
“It is clear that he has done a remarkable job of staying fit and ready,” Vogel said. “And I think this is really a great story. When you look at a guy who might be out of the league and started a Finals team a couple of years ago, a champion, so he has the perseverance to be ready.” and give yourself this opportunity, I think it is commendable.
“Seeing him exercise, hey, his nickname is ‘Swish’ for a reason, right? He’s a pitcher, a great pitcher. Like I said, he looks like he’s in great physical condition. And since I’ve said it all along, I think that is really going to help us. “
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