J.R. Smith reflected on one of the most difficult periods of his life, recalling the aftermath of a serious car accident that resulted in the death of his best friend and later led to him spending time in jail.
Smith explained that the incident happened during his third NBA season and that his time behind bars included an extended period in solitary confinement.
“I was in a real bad car accident my third year in the league. My best friend passes away from it, and I end up going to jail for vehicular manslaughter. I’m in solitary confinement. We got one hour out a day for 23 days. I’m literally in the cell 23 and one.”
At that point in his basketball career, Smith had already developed relationships with numerous teammates, coaches and executives.
However, he said only two people from that group came to visit him while he was incarcerated.
“At that time, I think I played for like six coaches, two professionally. Had a boatload of teammates, assistant coaches, GMs, all of this. And I had two people from all of that come see me when I was in jail. Straight up.”
The lack of contact from people Smith considered close to him changed the way he viewed many of those relationships.
He said he had previously made sacrifices for some of them but received little support when he was going through a difficult period.
“It’s like dudes I rocked with. I lost money because of you. I did the whole thing, like you my man a hundred grand. No nothing. Phone call, letter, nothing. And for me, that shit put things into perspective. Y’all really don’t care about me.”
