That JR Smith Blunder Has to Be One of the Worst of All Time

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Game 1 of the NBA Finals was an instant classic. But, not necessarily for all the right reasons. LeBron James put on a masterful performance as he continues to prove why he is the greatest basketball player of all time. The Golden State Warriors showed why no lead is safe against them. Steph Curry may be the greatest pure shooter of all time. Yeah – lot’s of basketball heritage in this Cavs-Warriors rivalry. But, Game 1 concluded with one of the most bizarre endings I’ve ever seen thanks to JR Smith.

In case you missed it, the buzzer sounds after George Hill misses a free throw, Smith gets the rebound, and instead of calling timeout or going for what appeared to be an easy layup, Smith dribbles the ball out.

That is bad. 100% can confirm.

James has every right to be furious, but you’ll also notice the rest of his Cavs teammates throwing their hands up in disbelief. Move over, Bill Buckner. You’re off the hook. Yes, this was all-time boneheaded.

This was a display of complete lack of situational awareness in a game that the Cavs absolutely had to finish. This team was a massive underdog in this series. People were practically getting out the brooms before Game 1, as this looked like a huge mismatch.

But, yet again, James put this team on his back and willed them to a gritty underdog performance that should have seen them win the game. But, to quote Dennis Green, they LET ‘EM OFF THE HOOK.

The worst part? Smith wouldn’t even own up to his mistake.

Courtesy of Basketball Forever:

“I tried to get enough space to bring it out to maybe get a shot off. And then I looked over at Bron and he looked like he was trying to call a timeout. So I stopped. And then the game was over.”

Yeah, okay.

Then, why did you visibly tell James, on the court, that you thought you were ahead?

Sure doesn’t look like, “I thought we were going to call timeout” to me! And, he wasn’t exactly in terrible position to shoot, either. Sure, KD was on him, but he had an opening. Let’s not act like he was facing an impenetrable wall. At the very least, he could’ve found an open man quickly and taken a better quality shot.

Just own it, dude. You fucked up. You screwed your team out of a victory that it absolutely had. Maybe if he owns it, his teammates rally around him and they can make something happen. But, James didn’t defend Smith at all in the post-game press conference…gave the media some classic non-answers and told ’em to “be better tomorrow.” Sure doesn’t sound like he’s ready to build the guy back up, but it sure does make Game 2 Sunday night interesting.

This was so bad that I’d be willing to bet LeBron’s already house hunting in Philly.

Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Alabama Crimson Tide football, the WWE, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley

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