Former NBA wing J.R. Smith spent part of the league’s lockout-shortened 2011-12 campaign playing overseas for the Zhejiang Golden Bulls and averaged over 30 points per game with the team, but after his squad’s season in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) came to an end, he returned to the NBA.
Smith ended up joining forces with star forward Carmelo Anthony on the New York Knicks, but he admitted that star guard Kobe Bryant tried to recruit him to the Los Angeles Lakers and that fellow star guard Chris Paul attempted to sway him to join the Los Angeles Clippers around the same time.
“I’m in China, doing whatever,” Smith said. “God rest his soul, Kob text me. He’s like, ‘Yo, man, I need you. What’s up, man? I need a alpha. I need a alpha.’ I’m like, ‘Oh, s—, word?’ [Tim] Grover started texting me and s—. I’m like, ‘Oh, s—.’ I’m like, ‘I might go to the Lakers.’ So, at the time, I’m with Leon Rose and them. So, C.P., we all got the same joint.
“Me, him, C.P., everybody. So, C.P. started hitting me. He’s like, ‘Yo, bruh, you need to come to the Clippers.’ Like, ‘We need to figure this out, da da da da.’ I’m like, ‘S—, oh, alright.’
“I didn’t even think the Knicks was a option. He (Anthony) hit me like, ‘Yo.’ I was like, ‘Yo.’ He’s like, ‘Yo, what’s up, man?’ First of all, he didn’t even say nothing ’cause he ain’t never gonna ask. So, he was like, ‘Yeah, man, how you doing over there? I see you do this, that, the third.’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, man.’ He’s like, ‘What you got going on after this, da da da da?’
“I was like, ‘Yo, I think I’m about to go to the Clippers or the Lakers, man. I talked to C.P., Kob hit me, da da da.’ He’s like, ‘Damn, dawg, you gonna do me like that?’ … ‘I was like, ‘What you mean?’ He’s like, ‘You ain’t coming over here?’ I’m like, ‘Alright, man, I’ll be there Monday.'”
Smith played in 35 games with the Knicks in the 2011-12 regular season following his CBA stint and averaged 12.5 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.4 assists per contest. Impressively, despite the fact that he joined the Knicks partway through the season, he still received some consideration for that campaign’s Sixth Man of the Year award.
In the following season, Smith’s first full season playing in New York, he enjoyed one of the most successful seasons of his pro career. He truly found his footing in a bench role for the Knicks, as he averaged 18.1 points per game in 80 contests played (all off the bench) in the 2012-13 regular season. He won his first and only Sixth Man of the Year award that season.
Smith carved out quite a memorable stint playing for one of the NBA’s marquee franchises in the Knicks, but it’s interesting to think about whether his addition would have helped a team like the Clippers get over the hump in the Western Conference.
Even without Smith in the fold, Los Angeles was one of the top teams in the West for much of his time with the Knicks and knocked on the door of a trip to the Western Conference Finals on more than one occasion.
The Lakers, meanwhile, also could’ve used a player like Smith as they navigated the latter stages of Bryant’s career and started to become less relevant from a contention standpoint in the West.
While Smith didn’t join forces with Bryant on the Lakers, he did end up playing for the franchise in the twilight of his career. Smith suited up in six games with Los Angeles in the 2019-20 regular season and 10 more in the playoffs as he was part of the team that won the 2020 NBA title.
That gave him his second NBA championship. His first came with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016.
