JR is the expert on NBA clubbing, so if I was an NBA player I’d pay close attention to what he is saying here.
“For me, I feel like a target every time,” Smith said after Cavs shootaround Friday in advance of their game with the Boston Celtics. “So, I try to handle myself with care when I’m out and about. It’s one of those situations when you’re out at 4 in the morning — I’m not saying it’s [Copeland’s] fault by any means — but when you’re out at 4 in the morning, there’s no way you should be walking anywhere. Get in your car and go home or go wherever you’re going. That’s one of my cardinal rules. You don’t just stand outside of the events like that. You just get in and go and keep it moving.”
“I’ve never seen anything like that at all,” Smith said. “You hear about stuff like that all the time, but seeing it firsthand? I’ve never seen it.”
He had nothing but positive things to say about 1Oak, in fact.
“It’s a great place to be if you want to have a good time,” Smith said. “It was one of my favorite places when I was there. You get to see people: The Leonardo DiCaprios, the Rihannas, the Jay Zs, Beyonces and people of that sort. So, if you don’t get a chance to go to concerts and stuff like that, it’s a good chance. It’s where you see people and it’s a good vibe.”
“We fly in late all the time, so then we go out [late],” Smith said. “Guys like to have a good time. Just like the average college student. It just so happens that we got a lot of money, we’re young and famous, and people want to want to see us and we like to be seen.
“It just comes with the territory.”
JR Smith is a lot of things and one of them is brutally honest. The one point I’d like to make though is about his last statement.
It isn’t that he isn’t telling the truth, but you have to weigh the pros and cons. The average college student and the athlete he describes right after that are two totally different individuals. JR Smith is almost 30 years and most NBA players have reached adulthood, they aren’t kids who might miss English 101 the next morning. They have FAR more to lose than your average college student and as he said they are BIG targets.
Furthermore JR admitted that the life of flying in late and partying all night affected his game, so if you are a player fighting for minutes, might be best you get some rest instead of hoping Leonardo DiCaprio shows up.