Dennis Smith Jr. Speaks on Beef With J. Cole, Was Upset by Rapper’s Lack of Support: “Damn He Still Ain’t Show Me No Love”

Throughout the summer, Kendrick Lamar and Drake’s beef took center stage on social media as the rap titans dropped a slew of tracks dissing and saying the most heinous stuff about each other. However, it’s seemingly forgotten that Lamar dissed not only the Canadian superstar but also J. Cole. The North Carolina native responded with a diss track but quickly backed out. De-escalating beef is seemingly a trait of his, as he once did the same with Dennis Smith Jr.

On the Run Your Race podcast, the Nets star revealed he too had issues with Cole. In high school, Smith, a massive fan of the rapper, began gaining some notoriety as a basketball prodigy in Fayetteville, the duo’s hometown. However, the two-time Grammy Award winner never reached out to the youngster, which prompted him to stop repping Cole’s record label, Dreamville. He said,

“When I was in ninth grade… I got a nice Dreamville shirt. I used to wear it in warmups all the time. And I had started bubbling a little bit in ninth grade and then the same thing in 10th grade… And I was like, ‘Damn, he still ain’t show me no love’ and I be out here repping him.“

Smith stopped wearing the Dreamville t-shirt and aired his grievances to James McMillan Jr., better known as Mal, a common friend of his and Cole’s, who found the ordeal amusing. He set up a meeting between the Smith and the rapper at a local skating park to help them settle their differences. Explaining what transpired, the guard said,

“I’m excited to meet Cole and as soon as I start talking to him, Mal was like, ‘Nah n***a, tell him how you said you want that fade.’ I’m like, ‘Bro, why you said that out loud?’ I look up at Cole, and Cole was like, ‘Nah. You don’t want to do that,’ and we just left it at that.”

After that conversation, their short-lived beef ended. Cole and Smith forged a friendship and are close to this day. The Nets star even paid homage to the rapper by wearing his Fayetteville Bulldogs high school jersey when he participated in the 2019 Slam Dunk Contest.

Dennis Smith Jr. FLIES OVER J.Cole in his high-school jersey!

THIS VIDEO GOING DOUBLE PLATINUM WITH NO FEATURES" pic.twitter.com/LikT50IDB5

— Basketball Forever (@bballforever_) February 17, 2019

Cole also shouted the guard out on 21 Savage’s “a lot”, where he had a featured verse.

While the rapper and Smith are on good terms today, the same can’t be said about Smith and his former team, the Mavericks.

When Dennis Smith Jr. called out his former teammates mid-game

Late in the fourth quarter of a game between the Hornets and the Mavericks in March 2023, Smith, who was drafted by Dallas in 2017, hit a deep three-pointer against a former team to ice the game. The shot confined the Mavericks to a fourth-straight defeat and saw them drop to 36-39.

oh dear. Dennis Smith Jr. stabs his old team with a dagger 3 that may have catastrophic playoff implications for the Mavericks.https://t.co/lD4gc2L4JI pic.twitter.com/tzO195tPdc

— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) March 25, 2023

Handing a massive blow to Dallas’ odds of earning a playoff berth wasn’t enough for Smith. After he hit the shot, he talked trash to the Mavericks bench, risking a scuffle. However, nobody reciprocated, as they were seemingly still in shock about losing for the fourth game running. When asked about the moment in his post-game press conference, the then-Hornets guard said,

“That felt great. That felt great. As soon as I hit it, I looked over at the bench and said ‘hold that.’”

Dennis Smith Jr. on his dagger 3 in Dallas: “That felt great!” He laughed. “That felt great. As soon as I hit it, I looked over at the bench and said, ‘Hold that.’”

— Tim MacMahon (@BannedMacMahon) March 25, 2023

While J. Cole has a penchant for diffusing beef, Smith seemingly has it for picking them.