“I told J.R. Smith I used to play with him in the video games”: Iman Shumpert picks former sharpshooter as the most underrated played he teamed up with in his career

Iman Shumpert

J.R. Smith probably isn’t the first name that pops into your mind when you think of underrated players, but he is that guy for Iman Shumpert.

J.R. Smith shared the court in some memorable years in New York and Cleveland. In fact, they were together since the 2011-12 season on the Knicks. From there they were both traded together to the Cleveland Cavaliers mid-season where they became integral parts of a championship contending team.

Neither Shumpert nor Smith were elite guards/forwards, but they provided some much needed depth and shooting for those Cavaliers teams that routinely ruled the Eastern Conference.

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Iman Shumpert labels J.R. Smith as the most underrated player he shared a court with

Iman Shumpert was asked point blank to name the most underrated player he’s teamed up with, and after a brief pause, he simply stated J.R. Smith.

Shumpert noted how he used to pick Smith in video games and would love to utilize him for his hot hand scoring approach. Shumpert isn’t wrong here. While you might label Smith as a streaky shooter, there was no doubt that when he got it going there was no stopping him.

Shumpert also spoke about J.R’s time in Denver and New York where Smith was also known for being a high-flier and electric dunker. I mean just look at some of these highlights:

Smith’s career best year probably came in the 2012-13 season with the New York Knicks when he averaged 18.1 points per game and shot 35.6% from three on a New York Knicks team that made the playoffs. Shumpert’s full explanation can be found here:

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Post Edited By: Ashish Priyadarshi
cleveland cavaliers iman shumpert J.R. Smith NBA New York Knicks

About the author

Ashish Priyadarshi

Ashish Priyadarshi is The SportsRush's content manager and editor. Ashish freelanced for 1 year in the NFL division before taking on an editorial role in the company. He then tacked on managing content while adding on a writing role in the NBA division. Ashish has been closely following the NFL and NBA since the 2012 season when the Patriots lost the Super Bowl and Derrick Rose was at the height of his powers. Since then, Ashish has focused on honing his knowledge for both leagues in, even writing crossover pieces. In his free time, Ashish is an avid basketball player, he loves to watch movies and TV shows, immersing himself in the cinematic world. Ashish studies computer science and data science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and would love to mesh his love for sports with his technical skills.

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