J.R. Smith has been owning NBA headlines, at least from a web news perspective ever since his “heel turn.” The shoe tying scandal has made J.R. Smith a trending term, but not for the reasons you’d want if you were the agent of J.R. Smith. The NBA Punditocracy ripped him a new one last night. As TNT’s crew of Charles Barkley, Steve Kerr and Shaquille O’Neal all took turns laying into him.
Shaq on J.R. Smith: “It seems to me that he doesn’t care. When you’re a winner and you want to play well and you want your team to play well, you have to act like you care. But with the way he’s been playing, it doesn’t seem like he cares. His numbers are down from last year. If he continues not to care, he won’t be around much longer.”
Charles Barkley on Knicks’ J.R. Smith: “He would drive Dr. Phil nuts.”
More from O’Neal on J.R. Smith: “Right now, J.R. Smith is an unmanageable character who isn’t putting in the work.”
Kerr on J.R. Smith: “He’s so talented and he’s had success in this league…but your career is fleeting. This is a brief moment in your life, maybe eight or 10 years if you’re lucky. You have to take advantage of it.”
Paul M. Banks is the owner of The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports. He’s also an analyst for multiple news talk radio stations across the country; with regular weekly segments discussing: Illinois, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Bears and Bulls on NBC and Fox Sports Radio. President Barack Obama follows him on Twitter (@paulmbanks)