“JR Smith Knew His Purpose”: LeBron James Passionately Backs Up Former Teammate’s Emotional Response to Haters

LeBron James and JR Smith haven’t always had the reputation of being friends with each other. After all, given the kind of generational winner James is, every moment of playing basketball is important, especially when you’re in the NBA finals. And of course, when JR Smith did this when he was with the King, things were never quite the same for a while.

However, as the saying goes, time heals all wounds. And in this instance, it apparently has, as James even made sure the Lakers signed up JR on their run to win the 2020 NBA championship. And now, to add to it, the man has even decided to shout out something his former teammate said.

What did JR Smith say?

All the memes aside, JR Smith was always a very good player. Yes, he also always had some trouble concentrating on the game in front of him. However, when he was locked in, there weren’t many wings in the league better than him.

More than that though, there was always a certain joy to his game. The indication that he never took himself too seriously, the feeling that he was just on a bigger playground is all, where he was being allowed to play his favorite game. You can watch the man speak on it in the Instagram post below.

“Like I never wanted to be famous. I played basketball because I love it. Never asked for the fame. Never asked for millions of dollars. I never cared about that. I loved the game, and I wanted to be in the NBA, because it was where the best players in the world played. That was the most competitive, the highest place in the world to me, to get to. And I’ve done that… I achieved my purpose!”

Jr Smith’s words here are beyond passionate ones. And apparently it resonated with LeBron James, since the man couldn’t help but put it up on his Instagram story.

What did LeBron James have to say about JR Smith?

In private, LeBron James may have been critical of JR Smith at times. However, in public, it hasn’t been often that the man didn’t sing his former teammate’s praises. And sure enough, this occasion was no different either. Take a look at what he had to say in the image in the tweet below.

“What’s your purpose?!?! Swish (JR Smith) knew his (purpose) *praying emoji, salute emoji*.”

It’s beautiful to see LeBron James so staunchly give JR Smith the respect he has deserved from everyone for so long. And maybe, just maybe, it will prompt the NBA community at large to do the same.