Absent from the NBA courts since 2020, after a new title won with the Lakers, JR Smith recently declared that this absence was due to an unfair hazing of which he would have been the victim, and not to his level of play or another reason. more plausible. In writing, we couldn’t agree more with these accusations. #FreeGerard
JR Smith is an iconic figure in the Great League. Everyone loves JR Smith. Known for his shoot and his love for Hennessy, the neo college golfer experienced a complicated end of career. Stuck with the Cavaliers at the end of the cycle and then miraculously signed by the bubble version of the Lakers, Lakers who will nevertheless be NBA champions in the process, Gérard has not since found a shoe that suits him. Officially elected in our hearts as the most *insert adjective* man in the League, JR Smith was able to multiply the cult sequences during his fine career with the greats. Come on, just for nostalgia, a small selection of some of the countless best moments of the one that the Ricans outright call the god of memes:
- November 2016: in full action, instead of defending, Gérard will check his friend Jason Terry, opponent during this match… on the bench of the latter. Result, Tony Snell dunk. Lunar.
- March 2019: Gerard is suspended for throwing a bowl of soup at his assistant coach in Cleveland, Davon Ham. Because impossible is not JR Smith.
- June 2018, the best known, sorry for Cavs fans: Gérard is not aware of the score IN FULL NBA FINALS, and offers us the most WTF end of the game in the last twenty years.
In short, so many actions that have accompanied Gégé throughout his NBA adventure and that have built his unique character. Not always easy for him we imagine, and it is surely one of the reasons which led him to make this statement during an interview for Complex Sports :
“Yes, I feel like I was blacklisted by the League. 100%. […] Out of the top three players on each team, name one guy better than me from day 4 to day 15 of the roster. […] GMs came to see me to ask me why I wasn’t playing. […] I feel like it’s the same for guys like Joe Johnson, Nick Young, Jamal Crawford, or Isaiah Thomas, who can still play. »
Hey, that’s true Gerard, where are these guys? The first was seen in the NBA for the last time in 2021 on the Boston side, under a 10-day contract. 1 game played, 2 points scored, a great story for the veteran and the Celtics, and that’s it. From now on Iso-Joe offends the Big 3, the league of old retired veterans who still have a bit of it up their sleeves, at the same time he himself is in his tight forties. Nick Young? After a (very) short stint with the Nuggets in 2018-19, Swaggy-P disappeared from circulation and is now busy boxing rappers (we’ll let you see what it’s all about, it’s happening on September 10) and filming his kid crossing his school friends. The best life. Jamal Crawford also left the League in a hurry, through the back door, after just one game for the Nets in 2020. And as for IT, the petite point guard is currently a free agent after 17 games in Charlotte and is reportedly looking for a job. roster, unlike the 3 other guys mentioned above. So, blacklisted or flushed? Your turn to judge.
JR Smith may be right but we, all we ask is to see him again at least once in the NBA. Free Gérard, Free the GOAT, even if this world doesn’t deserve you.
Source : Bleacher Report / ComplexSports