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Former Cleveland Cavaliers sharpshooter J.R. Smith has been on the airwaves over his decision to play golf for the college team North Carolina A&T Aggies after announcing retirement from the NBA.
J.R. Smith, as he continues to represent his college team in golf, tweeted about the new Air Jordan Golf "Bred" shoes that were released. Smith said:
"Man, they should just sign me with this new “NIL” first college golfer to sign with Jordan and coming from a HBCU don’t sound bad to me."
New shoes from the Jordan brand have taken the golf fraternity by storm and are set to be released on December 22nd at select retailers. Eager to represent the Jordan brand on the golf course, J.R. Smith has made it vocal that he is willing to become the face of this iconic brand in golf.
How good was J.R. Smith in the NBA?
J.R. Smith was drafted with the 18th overall pick in the 2004 NBA Draft by the New Orleans Hornets (now called the New Orleans Pelicans). Smith went on to win the NBA title twice - once with the Cleveland Cavaliers and once with the Los Angeles Lakers. For his career, Smith averaged 12.4 points, 2.1 assists and 3.1 rebounds while shooting the ball better than 37% from beyond the arc and almost 42% from the field.
While these aren't numbers that stand out, J.R. Smith was an essential cog in his first championship win with the Cleveland Cavaliers. During the 2015-16 championship run with LeBron James and the Cavaliers, J.R. Smith averaged over 12 points per game while shooting the ball at a rate of 40% from the perimeter.
One of his best performances of the season came in the infamous NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors, where Smith dropped 20 points on 5-of-10 shooting from beyond the arc in a Game 3 win over the Oakland-based franchise.
J.R. Smith also won the NBA's Sixth Man Of The Year Award in 2013 while playing for the New York Knicks as he averaged 18.4 points (career high) and 5.3 rebounds while shooting better than 35% from range. His best performance of the regular season came against the Charlotte Hornets, as Smith dropped 37 while making over 66% of his shots from the field.
J.R. Smith was a role player on championship rosters and a starter for teams with postseason aspirations. He was somebody who knew his role very well and went out and executed to the best of his abilities. Smith shot over 39% from downtown in four seasons in the NBA and in his prime was one of the best sharpshooters in the league.
Guess the Lakers players!
