‘Don’t respect anything about him’: Lakers’ JR Smith slams ex-teammate as only player he didn’t like in 16 year career

JR Smith has had a tumultuous NBA career. Many would question how good a teammate the man is. Yesterday, he spoke out about the only teammate he’s had beef with.

Through the course of a 15-year NBA career, JR Smith has played alongside over a hundred players. He definitely understands the importance of team chemistry.

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Having been drafted out of high school in 2004 by New Orleans, Smith has bounced around the league quite a bit. He was waived by the Cavs after being frozen out of the team following a team dispute early in the 2018-19 season.

JR Smith reveals the worst teammate he’s played alongside

According to JR Smith, the worst teammate he’s had is a player 9 years his junior. Sam Dekker, who he was teammates with for a brief interval in 2018, is the player he’s talking about.

In an appearance on the All Things Covered podcast with Patrick Peterson and Bryant McFadden, the two-time NBA champion revealed why he never got along with Dekker.

“He’s a person who’s very aware of somebody else’s circumstances and wanna keep him there as opposed to trying to help him elevate up, and i don’t respect anything about that.”

JR Smith says he’s only had 1 teammate that he didn’t like over his 16 year career🤯

Via @E_DeBerardinis pic.twitter.com/Y2JX8lH8Iz

— NBA Retweet (@RTNBA) October 24, 2020

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Dekker also played for the Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Clippers, and the Washington Wizards. Deemed to slow to find significant playing time in the league, Dekker signed with Turkish Super League team Lokomotiv Kuban.

Dekker is married to famous TNT announcer Kevin Harlan’s daughter Olivia. Currently playing for the Turk Telekom team in the TSL, Dekker’s NBA career is, by most accounts, over for now.

Being a poor locker room presence and gaining a reputation for it is a virtual death knell for any player in the NBA. Dekker will be finding that out the hard way.