What education does for someone

“I’m not even fulfilled with me”

Is what’s the heaviest there. Because all that other shit stems from that. 

It’s literally growing up. Most if not all of us do dumb stuff when we are young. Then we grow up and priorities change. The cycle of life

Good hopefully he’s growing up and can use his money and platform to help the impoverished

JR Smith is one of the players I least expected to hear this level of reflection from, being honest

Edit: I’m sorry JR, I was not familiar with your game

At least youre feeding the strippers and strip club owners

For all the hate he gets Trae young is doing this all over Oklahoma now.

While this is an extremely valid critique and self introspective take, I will give JR some grace insofaras it’s not as easy to spend $60,000 on charity in the hood.

E.g the nonprofit hustle is real, and many times that money gets eaten up just from salaries, logistics, and consultants.

You would essentially need a family member heavily invested in actually seeing that money go where it’s supposed to.

Sometimes NBA Wives will take on that mantle, and often times it’s why their namesakes are directly embedded in the name of the foundation eg the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

edit: I didn’t mean to imply that Bill Gates is an NBA player but f it we ball

He didn’t say he had an egocentric mindset. He said he had a eurocentric mindset.

Very important distinction there. Proud of JR, man. I have noticed more and more guys starting to see the game instead of playing into it.

I still do not fathom the appeal of throwing that much cash at a strip club. Why not hire a professional high class escort?

I love to see growth

Damn boys all grown up. Good on you JR

Fucking real

Not everyone reflects. Especially in this day and age where it is ‘here and now’ and ‘me, me, me’ mindset.

Appreciate someone who does reflect.

Hopefully lesson learned beyond words. And maybe some current guys in the NBA take note.

If JR was this locked in during his playing career he’d been a HOFer

And then you have Jaylen Brown who has launched an accelerator and investment fund in Boston to put money directly back into the community and create wealth. Glad he’s not a Celtic anymore so Reddit can stop hating for no reason 

he’s right but at the same time why is the government not providing these resources to these communities?

JR’s growth since retirement has been incredible to follow. I think he’d be a fantastic mentor to younger players if given the chance.

What college will do a dude 😂

Maturation!!!

It’s nice to hear this from JR, but there is literally no reason they couldn’t do exactly what he is saying today.

JR Smith describing what trickle down economics is supposed to look like is actually insane in the year 2026.

Love this shit for him but when y’all are letting these guys have that much money and not taxing them enough THIS is exactly why. They supposed to be out there helping everyone else with the money they get.

Dumbasses complaining about 900k not being enough when 1k would change most people living in povertys lives.

As a fan it’s so easy to yell through my keyboard that these athletes are dumb fucks who have spoiled their money.

I also can think about the various name brand athletes - KG, Duncan, Dwight…. - who have had civil cases or have spoken out about how financial advisors fucked them over. Shit, let’s include lawyers, too! Could easily have a legendary starting five of athletes who have claimed lawyers done them in. Agents? let’s not get started….

This is why I believe this is a systematic issue at hand AND while one could state there’s a rookie symposium to address these issues….it’s well after you signed to that agent. You shacked up with that financial advisor. You may have used that lawyer to review some deals that you signed.

Not to do what the clip above but also just a fun thing to chew on. Even if he saved that money good chance he could have lost that money

Westbrook has always been super involved in the community.

This mindset should also apply to owners

It’s not where you’re from it’s where you’re at. Lot of ppl experience this even with little to no money in their pocket.

Glad to see he seems to have matured. To be honest, 99% of us would have a hard time managing millions when you are a teenager or early 20s.

One of the most sane thing to come out of JR Smith’s mouth!! Or any NBA player’s mouth.

I know he’s not being literal, but I live in the “hood” (young, saving money) and people are definitely not lacking for food. Our country already has EBT/SNAP as well as abundant food pantries and other charitable assistance. The only hungry-looking people you see are that way because of drug addiction. Again, not trying to be a jerk but I think if you want to help people it’s important to think hard about what needs are truly going unmet.

This is the opposite of all those clips talking about their paychecks not being enough and complaining about being broke. Good work JR

it takes a big man to grow enough to learn this stuff, and even bigger to admit a lot of this stuff on camera. good for him, hopefully other athletes take note

That’s my champ

Hey man sometimes throwing bands in the club is more exciting and fun, it’s a balance. Gotta enjoy it too

You can tell he actually earned his degree and learned a lot while also playing on his college golf team love that for him but unfortunately younger generation is following this trend of throwing money away at clubs this comes from someone who used to be a bouncer before getting my cpa

I’ll admit, I did not expect to hear this from JR but he absolutely has a point.

I mean it’s all facts

Love to see it

Z

Those ladies at the club gotta eat too

Good to see growth from JR

Damn and JR said it. 🙃

This is FACTS

i just love the stories about him going back to school and golfing and connecting with college age classmates and some of his involvement on the NC communities. i mean ill always love JR “i prefer contested shots” smith

JR making me proud to say we graduated (at different times) from the same HS!!!

Dude did you know you can donate money and resources to those less fortunate? That’s crazy bro. Glad he figured that one out.

People focus on 2018 game one, but we don’t win the chip without him. His rep is what it is, but I think that between the various incidents that he gets clowned for, he’s always been more aware than people give him credit for. I ride for JR.

Why is he name dropping these dudes who aren’t even there hahah, calling them out publicly for something he admits he never did. It’s better late than never to realize, but come on JR that’s a little fucked up.

“I’m not even fulfilled with me!”

That’s some real hard line right there from JR.

I will always rock w JR Smith. Diggin how much he has grown!!

maybe it’s just getting older, but the more i think about nba players, the more i just think about what all that money could do for my community. it’s like half the thoughts, even when i watch the games. would love to be able to just chose to drastically improve my communtiy, then to just do it. like waving a wand. wouldn’t even care about the clout, just want my community to be happy and healthy. and many in my community are not. hell including myself.

i wrecked on my longboard and after, talked with a local mexican mowing crew boss. he said i’m scared man. i said i know. i said we can do better, he asked me how. almost desperate. i said i don’t know, but i know we can.

i just can’t imagine having so much money like a lot of these folks, or people who have even more than them ala very rich people who sign their checks. and not just constantly employ all my money to help folks. what good does it even do if you aren’t using it for good. what could it even bring you.

I’ll never feel bad for these morons going broke

Respect!

Joe dumars used to run a group of youth basketball centers in metro detroit and i always thought it was the coolest shit ever. he had purchased an old pistons hardwood from the actual arena and i learned to play basketball on it, doesn’t get much cooler than that

Dude went to college and was like “these kids are stupid af”

I’m sure being so young with so much money is easy to blow, at that age a lot of people like to party and have fun. It should be a requirement in High School to have financial literacy courses.

I fucking love JR bro

JR just like me fr /s

glad to see him sharpening up

Brandon Marshal has another show he will eventually drive into the ground

preach.

Is this the realest an NBA player has ever been? 

My man jr spitting out the truth. That’s why weath tax is important, that is why education is important, that is why voting is important. You want a better world then those that are bless should pay more so the majority of those can have a chance to make it out.

Bro went to university and became a progressive. MashaAllah.

Great clip. A lot of people in the moment cant get this realization. But its a powerful one when you feel it internally. Its well said and gives me a lot of respect for JR.

“Eurocentric mindset” lmao

Now what, though? At least you see it. And learn from it. And are speaking on it to teach others. Does the nba do a rookies class where it teaches rooks on pitfalls of being a pro who’s suddenly rich? I know NFL does. Wondering if NBA does. And, simple search said yes they have a Rookie Transition Program. That’s great. Real life examples from JR only help it.

Also, all these NBA players talk so much about how much they pay on taxes and CJ is acting like he was having hard time feeding his family after taxes and agent fees. Why not use the money for something you believe in and give back to community? Like how Trae Young is doing in Oklahoma? You know you write those off in taxes right? Since so many have issues with taxes why not redirect that money to your community and something you believe in? Also, last time I checked stripers and clubs don’t count for tax write offs, though I might need to confirm with Harden on that one. Dude might have found a unknown loop hole 😂. 

We need to start playing chess in life and stop trying to get a fucking king me playing checkers the entire time.

That money is feeding families with the people that work in the strip club.

100000000% correct 💯