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J.R. Smith blames poor team cultures for altering his path: "My whole career would've been different"
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- J.R. Smith blames poor team cultures for altering his path: "My whole career would've been different"
J.R. Smith was a two-time NBA champion and a winner of the Sixth Man of the Year award. During his 16-year NBA career, he also earned a reputation as a lethal and explosive scorer, whether as a starter or a reserve. Basically, when he had the ball in his hands, good things tended to happen. So, all that being said, it's safe to say he had one heck of a career.
However, the 6'6" wingman candidly admitted that he feels his career would have panned out differently if the locker room cultures he was exposed to were better in the early years of his career.
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He badly needed proper guidance
After a sensational high school career at Saint Benedict's Preparatory School in New Jersey, Smith elected to forego college and head straight to the NBA. The New Orleans Hornets recognized his immense potential and picked him 18th overall in the 2014 NBA Draft.
However, the Hornets team that he joined wasn't that good and finished with the worst record in the Western Conference. So, at that time, it wasn't the best place to be for a 19-year-old who needed guidance, both on and off the court.
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It takes more than sheer talent and skill to make it to the NBA. Another crucial ingredient is luck, and unfortunately for J.R., he didn't have much of it when he joined the team in his first year in the big leagues.
"I feel like if I had that early on in my career — those first two or three years — and I could have actually had it the way I wanted to, my whole career would've been different," Smith asserted in a conversation with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson in 2019.
"What I'm saying is, it's just a different vibe. And I don't live in the past, but that's obviously something that, you know, you think about," he added.
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The athletic wingman clarified that he had nothing but respect for the veterans who helped him during his first few years in the league; it was the winning culture or the lack thereof that he needed more of. One example Smith cited was punctuality, recalling how they were required to be at the bus at 12 noon.
"The bus says 12:00, I could show up at 12:05 and I'm still not the last person — fourth to last person. Right?" he shared, eliciting laughs from the crew.
However, when he tried to pull off that stunt somewhere else, he found out the hard way how things were done.
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"So when I go somewhere else and it's 12:05, I come down and the bus gone."
Stak can relate
Jackson chimed in, saying that he related to what Smith went through. Although he was drafted in 1997, Stak toiled in various leagues worldwide before finally getting a shot in the NBA during the 2000–01 season with the New Jersey Nets . However, his career didn't take off until he got to the San Antonio Spurs and learned from one of the greatest players of all time: Tim Duncan .
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"Being able to work out with him and for him to embrace me, that gave me confidence. You know what I'm saying? That's what I needed," Stak recalled. "I wouldn't have been a professional. I didn't know how to show up. I didn't know how to work. You know what I'm saying? I didn't know how to get ready for games… Tim Duncan did that for me. That's a fact."
Skill and talent are enough to get you through the door of the NBA. However, to stay in the league, players need the right vets around them; people who are willing to invest their time in teaching young players how to conduct themselves professionally. Fortunately for Smith and Jackson, they were able to get that, albeit at different points in their careers.
This story was originally published by Basketball Network on May 18, 2026, where it first appeared in the Off The Court section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
