Give J.R. Smith credit for one thing: he knows where LeBron James will be playing in 2018.
More specifically, he knows that the decision is up to LeBron and LeBron alone. Smith was asked about James’ future with the Cavs and his looming free agency earlier this week, and TMZ cameras were there to capture the uncomfortable incident where a vulgar Smith was frank about where LeBron might be headed next summer.
Smith is clearly not in the mood to answer questions. It’s also far from a press conference. It appears that someone caught up with Smith outside of a club of some kind. Security tries to swat away the camera a few times, but it remains rolling and catches Smith’s answer when he’s asked some questions about LeBron and the Cavs.
“Who cares? Seriously, who cares?” Smith asks. “Nobody cares but y’all making a dollar off this. Who cares?”
Smith is about to get into a car, or at least walk away, when LeBron specifically comes up. Someone mentions that “LeBron’s gone,” to which Smith responds “LeBron’s still here. He’s still here.”
A man in a striped hoodie holding a camera asked if LeBron is going to go to Los Angeles. Smith turns around, looks at the camera, and says “I think LeBron’s gonna be wherever the f*ck he wanna be at.”
It’s all a bit uncomfortable, and it doesn’t really look good for anyone involved here. This kind of incident clearly doesn’t change anything when it comes to LeBron’s pending free agency, but it may be a glass houses kind of situation with some other teammates moving forward.
