“Y’all put him in the league and gave him some money”: Iman Shumpert comments on former Cleveland Cavaliers teammate
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Iman Shumpert and JR Smith
For years, the NBA has witnessed numerous individuals having tremendous impact on their team but never being a part of spotlight. Many of whom we have grown to love and praise were in this particular situation at some point.
For about a week now, Iman Shumpert a former player of the 2016 World Champion’s Cleveland Cavaliers has took the world by storm after spilling some beans on the league and its players. Last time his comments on the King, LeBron James had gone viral but this time he had a lot to say about another former teammate of his.
Iman Shumpert believes JR Smith was the most underrated player around
During his most recent interview on the Bootleg Kev podcast, the former NBA star was asked who he thought was the most underappreciated player and his answer may or may not surprise you. After a long pause to think Shumpert said,”JR Smith, I think at one point I even told JR , like he was talking to me like I’m like I don’t know who I am bro but I used to play with you on the video games.”
Shumpert was all praise about his former teammate and an NBA 2K comparison would mean a lot these days. The host and Shumpert had exchanged words based on Smith’s time in Denver and New Orleans during which he recorded career bests. However, Smith’s had his best year during his time with the New York Knicks as he averaged 18.1 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists while shooting 35.6% from deep and 40.2% from the field.
His best game was when he was with the Nuggets back in April 2009 and scored 45 points and shot a franchise best of 11 made three pointers in that game. Smith was also known as a very good three point shooter averaging a career total of 37.3% from three. His best seasons from three were during his time with the Cavaliers and Nuggets having two seasons averaging 40% from deep.
Shumpert speaks up about Smith’s attitude
For many years, JR Smith has been termed as a bad teammate but Shumpert came to his defense saying,”He was eighteen, y’all put him in the league and gave him some money … he had to grow up in front of everyone’s eyes. Bro that sucks.” These were some extremely valid points made by Shumpert as being given a platform with money, everyone will try to fit in it. Along with it comes peer pressure and the fear of being rejected which may have accredited to Smith’s reputation.
During multiple occasions Shumpert had brought up a “talk” he had with Smith which may have been some sort of a vent session. Shumpert claimed that he said these words, ”Bro you are JR Smith, I don’t know what the f**k you’re talking about right now… I used to play video games with you fam, like not shoulder to shoulder… I’m going on the fantasy draft to make sure I got JR Smith on my roster.” And he further said, ”You’re going to be teaching me sh*t that JR Smith should be teaching me.”
Shumpert believes that behind all the talks on the player, Smith was one of the most undervalued and underrated players in the NBA. He also mentioned a few things about his own career saying that JR Smith was one among the stars he had played with but he was the most excited while playing under Smith.
After a 16 year long career in the league, the former star finished averaging 12.4 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists. JR Smith decided to retire in 2020 after winning a title with the Los Angeles Lakers and now with the COVID-19 outbreak on the league Smith is willing to hop back on a 10-day contract and show his magic again.
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Rakibul John Rodgers
(1258 Articles Published)