JR Smith Once Exchanged Punches and Flying Chairs With a Former Cavaliers Teammate During Practice

JR Smith didn’t hold back while calling out Draymond Green for punching Jordan Poole, but the man himself had several practice session fights

Draymond Green punching Jordan Poole has been the hottest subject in the NBA community since TMZ released a leaked video of the fight.

The incident took place in the practice session and so it wasn’t supposed to be recorded or leaked as only the Golden State Warriors staff were present in the stands.

Both, the fight, and its leak has been equally criticized by the players and the media. The latter critiqued the fight more than the leak, whereas most current and former players asked for investigation and firing of whoever is responsible for it getting out.

Also read: “Stephen Curry is Point God Behind Magic Johnson”: Sam Cassell Snubs Oscar Robertson and Jerry West to Dish Out High Praises to GSW’s MVP

The reason for this outrage by the players despite the absurdity of the fight is that they all have been a part of or witnessed some locker room scuffles throughout their career, and it never got out. Iman Shumpert for one, had many, that too with one particular guy.

Iman Shumpert and JR Smith used to go full throttle at each other at practice all the time

Both JR and Iman came to the Cavaliers in 2015 and helped LeBron James win his third title and first ever for Cleveland. But the pair were teammates in New York for 3 years even before going to The Land.

And they might have come off as the best of friends during those stints, but behind the curtains, they fought with each other. We are talking about fistfights, elbow blows, chair throwing, and whatnot during the practice.

Shumpert talked about it recently in his appearance on Vlad TV.

Remember fighting with siblings while growing up? That’s the kind of bond they had between each other and that couldn’t be considered a real fight and leaked to a news source.

JR’s criticism of Draymond punching JP

Smith and Green have faced each other in three straight NBA Finals with latter winning the last two. So, they had that usual bad blood there is between the rivals of the two top teams of the league.

Draymond is no stranger to on court altercations but none of his antics led to this kind of incident. And this too just for a foul in a practice game? JR was not having any of it.

He blasted Green through and through for the punch, and the people who are calling for the firing of whoever leaked it in the first place.

But, after Shumpert’s revelation, it’s pretty clear that even Smith had his fair share of fights in the practice and its not his place to judge Dray

Also Read: Stephen Curry Reminisces About his Welcome to the NBA moment

About the author

Akash Murty

An Electrical and Electronics Engineer by degree, Akash Murty is an NBA Editor at The SportsRush. Previously a Software Engineer, Murty couldn’t keep himself away from sports, and his knack for writing and putting his opinion forward brought him to the TSR. A big Soccer enthusiast, his interest in basketball developed late, as he got access to a hoop for the first time at 17. Following this, he started watching basketball at the 2012 Olympics, which transitioned to NBA, and he became a fan of the game as he watched LeBron James dominate the league. Him being an avid learner of the game and ritually following the league for around a decade, he now writes articles ranging from throwbacks, and live game reports, to gossip. LA Lakers are his favourite basketball team, while Chelsea has his heart in football. He also likes travelling, reading fiction, and sometimes cooking.

Read More