J.R. Smith Giving Out Advice On How To Responsibly Hit The Clubs Of NYC Is The Upset Of 2015 So Far
ESPN- As a member of the New York Knicks, J.R. Smith frequented the nightclub in the Chelsea section of New York, where the Indiana Pacers’ Chris Copeland and the Atlanta Hawks’ Thabo Sefolosha and Pero Anticwere involved in a late-night incident this week. Now a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Smith says one of his rules for going out could have helped from keeping the situation his NBA brethren found themselves in from ever occurring.
“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.” Copeland suffered stab wounds to his left elbow and abdomen, while the Hawks players were both arrested as a result of the incident, with Sefolosha suffering a season-ending leg injury in the process. “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.” … The 11-year veteran said that late nights are a product of the NBA schedule to some extent. “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.”
As if Chris Copeland and Thabo Sefolosha weren’t having a bad enough week already, now they are being lectured by J.R. Smith of all people. Earl plays with LeBron for a few months, doesn’t have any semblance of a nightlife in Cleveland, and *poof* he is the Gandhi of the NBA. If J.R. has any friends with kids and those friends wanted a night out but couldn’t find a babysitter, I imagine they would rather let the family dog watch their kids instead of J.R.
But seriously, it can’t be easy being “Young, black, and famous, with money hanging out the anus” in this connected world of social media and sick fucks. People are either trying to scam you or stab you the minute your name gets a couple of pages on a Google search result. That’s the craziest thing about these young athletes and rappers. They are living a college kid’s life (sometimes being the same age as a college kid), so of course they are going to have fun until 4 am. It’s the lunatics that prey on them that are the problem. If you carry a knife on you at all times, you are The Joker in my mind. Carrying a gun is wild enough in my sheltered suburban opinion, but a knife is just such a creepier and crueler weapon. I feel like only the truly sick and twisted pack a switchblade on their way out the door. Get well, Cope.