By July 30, local time, the day the NBA resumes, the Lakers will be a full 142 days away from the last time they played in the NBA. For those players who have recently joined the squad, this wait will be longer.
Take, for example, J.R. Smith. The last time he wore an NBA jersey, it was back in November 2018. After that, the Cavaliers, who decided to start the rebuilding plan, parted ways with the hero who helped the team reach the finals for four consecutive years. Since then, J.R. Smith has "harassed" his agent, Rich Paul, every five minutes, desperate to find another "home of basketball."
"For a while, I just kept asking, asking a lot of teams, hoping to find my next home in it," J.R. Smith said, "and then after a while, I didn't care, and my mentality was: 'I'm not going to ask anything anymore.'" If someone calls me, my agent will contact me. ’”
But throughout the 2018-19 season, J.R. Smith didn't wait for the call he was expecting. This has been true for many times this season, and even after the Lakers finished trying to train him, they still didn't call him. Faced with such a situation, even an optimistic person like J.R. cannot help but "fall into a depressed mood for a long time." ”
"[That emotion] went on for a while," J.R. recalls, "and I was a very video game guy, but during that time I didn't even want to play 2K." I don't want to play, I don't want to train, I don't want to do anything basketball-related. ”
But just last month, Avery Bradley's decision turned J.R. Smith around. Is this the last chance of his career for him? No one knows. But one thing is for sure, the Lakers allowed J.R. Smith's basketball career to continue, and also reunited the former "knife guard" with James.
Looking back at the years when J.R. Smith fought side by side with James, it can be described as a golden iron horse with a good record. And he can join the Lakers' lineup this time, and James naturally plays an immeasurable role. But for J.R. Smith, who will turn 35 in September this year, he can't expect much from the Lakers today. After all, he has been away from the professional arena for too long, and a commentator once pointed out pointedly: "It would be a serious mistake to let him play when the game was still in suspense." ”
But the final decision on how to use J.R. Smith is undoubtedly in the hands of head coach Vogel. In a recent video interview, Vogel also talked about this issue.
"He's done really well in two ways, one is to keep himself in shape and the other is to prepare himself for the game," Vogel said. You look at him, he's almost leaving the league, and he was the starter of a team that has been in the Finals for years in a row, and he's won a championship. For him, it was perseverance that gave him this opportunity. But for that, I think it's commendable. ”
J.R. Smith's ability to put aside, he now joined the Lakers, the most important thing is undoubtedly the experience he has played alongside James. Before coming to Los Angeles, he had played 5,760 minutes on the court with James. In the 2017-18 season, the final season of the two Cavaliers, J.R. Smith played with James for more time than any player on the Cavaliers. Although the efficiency of the two cooperation is not the highest in the team, there is no doubt about the familiarity of each other.
And looking at the Lakers' lineup today, the only player who has fought with James in the playoffs is J.R. Smith. So when talking about what he can bring to the team, J.R. Smith says that he can properly "stimulate" James, and J.R. Smith can also act as a bridge when James says something that other teammates don't know how to respond.
"I know what LeBron gets angry about, and a lot of people in these moments probably don't know how to deal with it," J.R. Smith said, "which can create a gap in understanding between each other, but in reality everyone's goal is to win." We all watched Jordan's documentary (the last dance) and he was very tough on his teammates. But LeBron is different, because everything he does is aimed at winning the game, but sometimes it is inevitable that he will go astray. And there's a delicate balance between me and him, and I think it's because he knows he can 'challenge' anybody in the team and I'm going to challenge him in turn, and we cancel each other out. ”
As J.R. Smith said, he did give James a lot of challenges in the process of fighting alongside him, and he could respond to James's requests most of the time. "For people who have reached a certain level, they need to create some challenges for themselves," J.R. Smith said, "and some people will keep pushing themselves forward because of this, and now he doesn't need to create those challenges anymore, after all, he is already LeBron." However, sometimes there are people in your team or in your circle who can constantly push you forward, which is also a good thing. ”
In addition to J.R. Smith, the Lakers have previously signed Dean Wittes. One thing the two players have in common is that they are both players from Klutch Sports, an agency that owns Rich Paul, who is also a close friend of James. However, the two were able to enter the Lakers, not entirely by this relationship.
"We tried out Dion and J.R., and at the end of the trial we were all saying that they could help our team," Vogel said, "and one of the things we have to do is figure out where they can help us." ”
In fact, whether it is Wittes or J.R., both are doomed to be unable to take on too important tasks on the way to the Lakers' rematch. Because in front of the two, there is a player like Pope, who is more excellent from strength to form, he is also the first choice for the Lakers in the second position today. At the beginning of the season, Pope appeared in the starting second position 20 times, but with Bradley returning, Pop also returned to the bench.
"KCP [Pop] was one of our most eye-catching players of the season," Vogel said, "and during his absence from Avery [Bradley], he played really well and really became one of the leaders in the team." Vogel's assessment shows that he is very satisfied with Pop's performance. And in the backfield of the bench, Caruso also used performance to stand firm. With Pop and Caruso not outperforming, there aren't many opportunities for Vitesse and J.R. Smith.
But the two also have an advantage that other players don't have, which is their experience of playing. "I can't predict where they'll be in the team," Vogel said, "and the answers to those questions may slowly surface after the start of training camp." And in the warm-up games that follow, the two of them will also get the opportunity to fully show what they can do for the team and whether they can adapt to the collective. ”