New York Knicks: A fitting tribute to J.R. Smith

Nobody ever thinks to call J.R. Smith underrated. With one of my favorite players still out of a job, I decided he deserved a tribute.

If you Google “J.R. Smith” and “Finals”, the first thing that comes up is a ridiculously titled video from Bleacher Report: “Cavaliers J.R. Smith Costs Cavs Game 1 Of NBA Final with Late-Game Mistake.” First of all, an excellent job of fixing a typo more than two years later.

The video shows George Hill missing the free throw that would’ve given the Cleveland Cavaliers the lead, but J.R. cost the Cavs the game? Sure guys.

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The game was tied! It went into overtime! That means more basketball. It’s possible that LeBron James and Kevin Love going a combined 0-6 in overtime had something to do with the Golden State Warriors win.

Smith told Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes on their All The Smoke podcast that he believed the Cavs were up one. And how come no one ever gets on George Hill, a career 80 percent free-throw shooter, for bricking that second shot? Maybe he’s the real villain in all of this.

It wasn’t a Sunday afternoon against the Orlando Magic. It was the damn Finals. I love Joe Rogan as much as the next guy, but even for his show, this was a wild take. This clip gave me the idea for this tribute in the first place.

Smith is one of the most prolific 3-point shooters of his era. Before you shoot this down, take a look at a stat that surprised even me.

According to the Basketball-Reference Finder, Smith was third in 3-pointers from his rookie season (2004-05) to the 2017-18 season. The only two players who netted more were Steph Curry and Kyle Korver. Smith shot 37 percent from downtown on 5.3 attempts per game during that span.

When Smith got to Cleveland, the 3-point shot became even more important to his game. In three full seasons with the Cavs, more than 64 percent of his FGAs were from beyond the arc.

Smith’s accomplishments should speak for themselves. As of this writing, he’s 13th on the NBA’s all-time 3-pointers list. He has over 900 games, 26,000 minutes, and 1,900 3s on his resume, but he can’t find a team to give him a shot.

When Kevin Love disappeared during the 2015-16 finals, Smith was the Cleveland Cavalier’s third-leading scorer. He led the team in 3-point makes during the series, including his back-to-back triples that started the third quarter comeback in Cleveland’s Game 7 win.

Of course, my most significant memories are of Smith’s time with the New York Knicks.

I fell in love with the Knicks because of Allan Houston. I vaguely remember the ’99 NBA Finals and feeling like we had a chance. Those were the days. When I was ten years old and too stupid to know what was coming.

After years of failure, my team was good again. I love Carmelo Anthony, as we all should for that fairy-tale 2012-13 season, but Smith has all the ingredients of my perfect Knick.

He’s from Jersey, and he plays without conscience or fear of the big moment. Oh yeah, he’s also one of the most entertaining players in NBA history, whether it’s for good reasons or bad.

Whether Smith was driving a scooter without a license, partying with Rihanna, tossing out legendary DMs or soup, he was a constant source of entertainment off the court.

But what we don’t talk about enough is his accomplishments on the court.

J.R. won the Sixth Man of the Year Award in 2012-13, averaging a career-high 18.1 points per game. Smith capitalized on Melo’s scoring title and New York’s division title with the best season of his career.

J.R. never met a shot he didn’t like. He is a legendary streaky shooter. Let’s provide a little context for you.

During the 12-13 season, Smith had a three-game stretch from Feb. 1 to Feb. 4 that he converted on 17-40 triples (.425). Smith had a six-game stretch from Feb. 13 to March 1, which he converted on 20-42 (.476) attempts from 3-point range. He was 4-21 combined (.190) from downtown in his next two outings.

But it wasn’t all 3-pointers. Smith had some incredible dunks in his time with the Knicks. None of them more impressive than this alley-oop from Knicks legend Pablo Prigioni.

Since we’re talking dunks, I might as well put this one in here too. One of the few highlights of that 2012 beatdown against the Heat was J.R. blowing by LeBron for the dunk.

Smith may have won the Sixth Man Award in 2012-13, but he shot the ball better in the following season. He made 189 threes in 2013-14 at a 39.4 percent clip.

According to NBA Stats, Smith converted on 45.2 percent of his catch and shoot 3-pointers. Those 189 triples were the second-most 3s in a single season in Knicks franchise history behind only John Starks (217) in 1994-95.

Smith has the franchise record for 3-pointers made in a single game with ten against the Big Three Miami Heat in April 2014 during NBA Green Week.

Smith launched 22 3-pointers and was 1-6 on 2-pointers vs. Miami. I think my favorite one is the airball on a mid-range jumper, which leads to his second 3. That 10th and final one that he made over LeBron’s outstretched hand is pretty damn impressive too.

This was Smith’s second game with ten 3-pointers. His career-high was 11 in a 45-point game (also a career-high) for the Denver Nuggets in 2008-09.

As Mike Breen mentions in the video, this came after a game against the Washington Wizards, where Smith made eight 3s. We’re back to the streaky shooting.

But Smith will always be remembered most for his mistake in Game 1 of the 2018 NBA Finals. That game was tied by the way.

If LeBron had just been a regular teammate about it instead of reacting like J.R. stole his 2 Chainz CD, I wouldn’t have felt compelled to write all this. J.R. might have a job right now.

So why doesn’t he? Well, according to the sagely Stephen Jackson, J.R. is being forced out just like Melo was for nearly 18 months. If Smith’s free agency status is somehow related to what happened in a Finals that ended in a sweep, by the way, that’s completely insane.

The NBA is built around 3-point shooting, and J.R. Smith is one of the best in recent memory. Somebody, sign this man.

All statistics are pulled from Basketball-Reference unless otherwise noted and are accurate as of May 4, 2020.