- Report: Lakers downgrade D’Angelo Russell’s status for Friday’s matchup vs. Thunder
- Kendrick Perkins rips ‘borderline senior citizen’ Chris Paul for letting Austin Reaves drop 25 points on him
- Anthony Davis issues confident statement on Lakers playoff hopes: ‘You put anybody against us, I like our chances’
- Anthony Davis declares that he and LeBron James have ‘one of the best relationships’ among duos in the NBA
- Former teammate of Kobe and LeBron says Kobe was ‘like Mike’ while LeBron was more ‘happy-go-lucky’
- Report: LeBron James has resumed on-court activity for Lakers
- Monty Williams sounds off on free-throw disparity in Lakers-Suns game
- Patrick Beverley implies his opinion wasn’t valued on Lakers
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander says he never liked LeBron’s game
- Germany recruiting Austin Reaves to play for them in the World Cup
Footage Shows LeBron James and J.R. Smith Going to Work as They Prepare for NBA’s Resumption
- Updated: July 7, 2020
Now that J.R. Smith is officially a Los Angeles Laker, he has started preparing for the resumption of the 2019-20 NBA season.
Smith and LeBron James have been putting in some serious work as the Lakers prepare to fly to the NBA’s bubble environment in Orlando, Fla.
LeBron and JR are back… this time in Los Angeles. (via @LakersSBN) pic.twitter.com/R0IKd3w0G4
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) July 6, 2020
Smith and James are certainly familiar with each other, as they played alongside each other from 2015 to 2018 with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
In each of the four postseasons Smith and James were teammates, the Cavs reached the NBA Finals and played the Golden State Warriors.
The two endured three tough losses, but sandwiched between those defeats, Smith and James also helped the Cavs win their first-ever championship in 2016.
At age 34, Smith likely won’t play nearly as large a role for the Purple and Gold as he did for the Cavs. Many expect him to be the basketball equivalent of a pinch hitter in baseball, but Smith is always a threat to get hot from 3-point range or to hit a clutch shot in a big game.
The Lakers are scheduled to resume their season on July 30 against their crosstown rivals, the Los Angeles Clippers.