J.R. Smith is many things to many people, but for the most part the NBA intelligentsia considers him just one or two rungs above Nick Young in the goofball NBA player department. After Sunday night’s Game 7 win, now J.R. Smith is an NBA champion. No one can take that away from him. But the day had a special significance besides a victory in the NBA Finals.
“One of the reasons this game is so special to me is my dad put the ball in my crib…” Game 7 took place on Father’s Day, but that wasn’t all for Smith.
At this point in the press conference, Swish dropped his head so the brim of his hat covered his face. The tear ducts swelled, his speech got choked and we got to see a vulnerable J.R. that’s a long way from the irrationally confident wing who spent multiple seasons in Denver and New York earning his goofball reputation.
J.R. Smith, world champion, gets emotional: "I've been in a lot of dark spots in my life." pic.twitter.com/qNYzoVqJA1
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) June 20, 2016
“My parents, my family, I’ve been in a lot of dark spots in my life and if it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be able to get out of it,” Smith huskily wheezed into the mic. “But they are who they are; they fought with me, they yelled at me, they screamed at me, they loved me, they hugged me they cried with me…”
We cried with J.R. Smith, too. Make sure you have some tissues before you watch as well.