LeBron James’ $35M worth former teammate claims he is blackballed from the NBA like Isaiah Thomas, Jamal Crawford, and more

Akash Murty | 10/09/2022
LeBron James' $35M worth former teammate claims he is blackballed from the NBA like Isaiah Thomas, Jamal Crawford, and more

A LeBron James teammate believes he is in the ‘genre’ of players like Isaiah Thomas, Jamal Crawford, Joe Johnson, etc who received unfair treatment.

There has been a pattern in which the veterans of the game are going out of the game. In yesteryears, not just superstars, but even the role players used to get the opportunity of calling it a day when they were done playing. Now, they fade away.

Even injured ones used to get a chance to make comebacks multiple times. Now, even Isaiah Thomas-like players get no offers a couple of years after being a 2x All-Star and leading a franchise deep into the Playoffs.

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Carmelo Anthony could have been among those casualties two years back after he had his differences at Houston because he would rather not be a catch-and-shoot guy which he eventually did become and a pretty good one at that. He is again at the risk of it though.

Speaking of catch-and-shoot, a former LeBron James’ former partner in crime, 3-and-D man, who had an important role in their championship season, believes, he too has been caught in that wind.

LeBron James’ former teammate JR Smith believes he’s better than the 4th best player of all 30 teams

JR Smith had a decent 15-year NBA career in which he played for five different teams, won two championships and made in upwards of $90 million. He is now worth around $35 million.

It came to an abrupt break even before his contract expired with the Cavaliers in 2019. He was made to sit out almost all of the 2018-19 season despite having decent numbers as a role player since he had come in 4-years before that time. He got a lucky break with the Lakers in 2020 and won the championship with them without getting much chance to prove himself.

And the former Knicks guard believes he also came under the hammer with the group that most of the people in the NBA do not know why they aren’t in any of the 30 teams.

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Now he isn’t beating the fourth-best guy in Golden State or even in Milwaukee and most other teams. But the fact of the matter is he can shoot the basketball and play perimeter defense much better than younger players with no playoff experience.

 

 

Post Edited By: Akash Murty
isaiah thomas Jamal Crawford Joe Johnson JR Smith Nick Young

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.

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