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In a joint Instagram post Wednesday between James, Smith, Thompson and Frye, the caption read: "The group chat finally linked up." Another joint post between Jefferson, Love, Thompson and Frye included a video of Thompson delivering drinks to the group on the course, captioned: "We all have roles."
Notably absent was Kyrie Irving, who hit the go-ahead 3-pointer for Cleveland in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors. Smith seemingly addressed Irving's absence, commenting on a post about the reunion: "Missing none. He was invited and ghosted us all. So stop with that bs."
Speaking on Pivot Podcast, Smith explained his thought process during the final seconds of regulation. After grabbing an offensive rebound with the score tied late in the fourth quarter, Smith said he expected the Cleveland Cavaliers to call a timeout and organize a final possession. “I got the rebound. I’m thinking we’re going to call a timeout because at that point the game is possessional,” Smith said. Smith said his intention was to avoid forcing a difficult shot and create a better opportunity for James, who had scored 49 points in the game and carried Cleveland throughout the night. “I’m thinking, okay, bet. We’re not about to rush. We’re going to get the best shot possible. Any other time, you get the rebound, call timeout, get it to your best player and let them make the play,” Smith said.
Smith said he felt James expected him to make a decision that would maximize the team’s chances. “I’m literally looking at him like, ‘Bro, this is your job. That’s why you get the big bucks. They don’t pay me enough for this,’” Smith said.
JR Smith: "I played 16 years, I probably played 70% of my career depressed. That's crazy to think about. That's nuts. And to still be able to have a, I would say a good career, it wasn't great, it was a good career, but I literally think about this shit all the time, bro. My potential was so high in that aspect of it."
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JR Smith: "I'm addicted to smoking because of a lot of the depression and pain that I feel and I don't know how to get out and express it. I've been to therapy, I don't trust therapists because a lot of them tell you what you want to hear. And I've learned to where I don't, me personally, I've been around enough people to kiss my ass, I don't really need that."
JR Smith: If I was capable of expressing myself and understand at an earlier age, I feel like a lot of my own thoughts wouldn't be to my detriment. And I didn't I didn't realize this until as I got older and and still even still, it's having those hard conversations, having the courage and boldness to have those tough conversations with people, you really find out that it's not that bad. It's not as bad as you think. And I didn't learn that for a long time and I feel like for me, if I was earlier on, I wish I'd have I wish I'd have had that."
Iman Shumpert had postgame commitments after the Knicks’ wild Game 4 win. He decided to make other plans. The former Knicks guard bailed on an ESPN podcast appearance Wednesday night so he could join the celebration outside Madison Square Garden after the Knicks’ dramatic NBA Finals comeback win over the San Antonio Spurs. Shumpert was set to appear on “The Hoop Collective” podcast but said he instead was heading to Seventh Avenue with J.R. Smith to celebrate with the fans outside MSG.
JR Smith: After the 2013 season, I have a surgery on my knee. The Knicks and I were going back and forth on rehab personnel, physicians, or whatever were on holiday, and I didn't rehab. I wasn't rehabbing my knee. I was in consistent pain, and I turned to pills. Took a lot of pills, took a lot of painkillers, and I got into a bad situation. I let this person know that. I was also going through a breakup. I also let this person know that. The information was misused to a point to where it was meant to make me look bad opposed to caring about me as a person. Fortunately, I have an amazing backbone. My mom is the main person who really got me straight, and it it took a it took a while for me to verbally say it because I was of a of a thought process of I couldn't be in this certain situation.
JR Smith: I did not grow up a Knicks fan. I hated the Knicks. I did not like Patrick Ewing. I did not like John Starks. I didn't like anything about the Knicks. I was a Bulls fan. I was a Michael Jordan fan. Michael Jordan is my GOAT. That's it. And my agent calls me and he gives he gives me these list of teams. Only thing I kept bringing me back was playing with Chris Paul. He's going to pass the ball. I'm going to be in a great situation. They play fast. They play up and down. My type of style. I tell him, all right. I'm going to the Clippers. He's like, all right. I get on a flight, land in LA. God rest in peace, Mark Warkentien. He is the first person I see. I was with him in Denver. He's like, "Kid, what are you doing?" I was like, I'm going to LA. He was like, "You really want to do that?" And had this conversation. I'm like, okay. Go to the hotel, go to sleep. I wake up. I said, "I'm going to New York." And my dad was the first person I told cuz my dad was a Knicks fan.
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JR Smith on 2020 ring with Lakers: We won it now. It felt great. It just felt weird in The Bubble. It wasn't the same. There was no parade, no fans, people wearing masks, you get the echoes coming through the thing. It was kind of weird, but winning a chip in general is just amazing. So, I'm very fortunate to have two. Living in The Bubble, it was actually one of the dopest situations coming from somebody who played AAU ball growing up and going to these top 100 camps and stuff like that. Cuz you have all of the top guys in one area. You just see dudes that you normally wouldn't see on a regular basis where you can pick each other's brains.
JR Smith: "Anybody knows who Byron Scott as a coach, probably second to none on you're going to be in shape where they're going to make you quit. And we did this drill that lasted, first 35 minutes of practice, and it was all running. And I literally thought to myself for sure I should have went to college."
JR Smith: "I did not grow up a Knicks fan. I hated the Knicks. I did not like Patrick Ewing. I did not like John Starks. I didn't like anything about the Knicks. I was a Bulls fan. I was a Michael Jordan fan. Michael Jordan is my GOAT."
JR Smith on feeling slighted by the Sixth Man award: "It kind of felt like a slap in the face to me honestly because I felt like I should have been an All-Star. I should have been one of the first All-Stars to come off the bench. And we get to the end of the year, you give me this trophy to where it's like, you know, be satisfied, and I was just so upset because I wasn't even a thought."