LeBron James and JR Smith are once again teammates after the Los Angeles Lakers signed the latter as Avery Bradley's replacement.
Smith hasn’t played in an NBA game since November 19, 2018. He was with the Cleveland Cavaliers last season but ended up getting exiled from the team before eventually being waived last July.
Smith averaged 6.7 points in 11 games with the Cavs in 2018-19. His last full season came in 2017-18, during which he played in 80 games and averaged 8.3 points for Cleveland.
Now that LeBron James and JR Smith are reunited in Los Angeles, let's take a look at their greatest moments as teammates with the Cavs.
3. Just throw it up and LeBron will go get it
LeBron is arguably the greatest athlete in NBA history. With that said, all you have to do is throw the ball near the rim and The King will finish the alley-oop in grand style.
After the Cavs acquired Smith from the New York Knicks, the veteran guard and LeBron connected on a bevy of spectacular lob plays:
2. “That's almost a trick question there”
During the 2016 playoffs, Smith poured in seven 3-pointers against the Atlanta Hawks in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. He finished with 23 points.
After the game, LeBron was asked if he ever wondered what it would be like to play like Smith for a game, and his answer was priceless:
"He’s the only one on the team that has the ultra-green light. It’s like, fluorescent…It would be cool to take 14, 15, 17, 20 3s in a game."
LeBron when he was asked if he ever wondered what it would be like to play like JR Smith for a game? pic.twitter.com/XHJhd2JQVx
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) July 1, 2020
1. Smith's epic mistake during Game 1 of 2018 NBA Finals
In Game 1 of the 2018 NBA Finals between the Cavs and Golden State Warriors, Smith made a mistake for the ages and it created arguably the best meme of all time.
The game went into overtime after Cavs point guard George Hill missed a second free throw which would have given Cleveland a one-point lead. Smith got the rebound but dribbled the ball out to the perimeter, clearly not knowing that the game was tied.
The Cavs got swept by the Warriors and LeBron suffered a bone contusion in his right hand after punching a whiteboard following the Game 1 loss. To recall, LeBron scored 51 points in Game 1:
Back in October while speaking with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, Smith talked about the infamous incident.
“If it’s my fault and you want to pin it on me, alright, cool,” Smith said. “I hit [Tyronn Lue] that night and I was like, ‘Bro, I don’t even know what to say.’ He was like, ‘Bro, what are you talking about? You made a basketball play and it didn’t work out. It happens.’
“I laughed about that s— that night…I’m not a person to hold onto s—. I’m not going to hold onto no grudges. I’ll never forget it but players f— up, it just so happened that mine was in the Finals… We’ve all messed up.”
Despite the incident, these two have certainly had quite the history together in the NBA.
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