The first two games of the 2017 NBA Finals have not been kind to J.R. Smith. Things have been so bad for Smith on the court that he recorded more turnovers (four) than points (three) in both games. But there is more to life than just basketball, which is why Smith and his wife Shirley, opened up to ESPN’s Rachel Nichols about the birth of their premature daughter Dakota.
Dakota was born four months premature in January and both Smith and his wife openly talked about her birth on social media shortly after it occurred. This was a very emotional and trying time for the Smiths as Dakota remained hospitalized until May 23 due to her premature status. Yet the Smiths remained optimistic and, thankfully, Dakota is healthy and now living at home with her family.
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“My wife needs me, my daughter needs me,” Smith tearfully told Nichols about what he was dealing with. “Nothing is more important to me in my life at this point. You see your daughter go through…like in most of my life I’ve been able to be in control of everything and something like that, you have no control. And it’s your child and obviously I would do anything for her. It hurt.”
As you can tell from their interview, Smith and his wife went through a lot emotionally while Dakota was in the hospital. That’s why this Instagram post from Smith announcing Dakota’s arrival home on May 23 was filled with so much joy:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BUc8idAj02F/
It is hard not to feel for the Smiths but you also have to salute their perseverance and strength through such a difficult period in their lives. Thankfully everything worked out for them as this is yet another example of how there are much bigger things in life than basketball even for NBA players.
