Cleveland Cavaliers veteran guard J.R. Smith won the first championship of his 12-year NBA career on Sunday night, and — as was apparent from the moment the final buzzer sounded — it's a monumental accomplishment that he certainly isn't taking for granted.
Smith immediately broke down into tears after the Cavs' Game 7 victory, as did every player sporting the wine and gold. But in the postgame press conference, the 2012-13 Sixth Man of the Year let loose with emotion, particularly when he began talking about his father, Earl Smith.
"Today is so special to me," Smith said. "It's on Father's Day. My dad put the ball in my crib."
After a long, emotional pause, Smith continued.
"I mean, my parents, my family, that's the biggest inspiration in my life. I've been in a lot of dark spots in my life, and if it wasn't for them, I wouldn't be able to get out of it. But they are who they are. They fought with me. They yelled at me, they screamed at me, they loved me, they hugged me, they cried with me, and they always stuck by my side no matter right or wrong."
Smith is a part of a Cavaliers squad that will live on in the NBA's record books, as they became the first team in league history to come back from a 3-1 deficit to win a Finals series. But his career hasn't always been smooth sailing. Smith — who spent time with the New Orleans Pelicans (Hornets, at the time), Denver Nuggets and New York Knicks before joining Cleveland — has oftentimes found himself in the negative spotlight over the course of his career, particularly due to his lengthy history of suspensions and fines.
But as Smith stated after Sunday's win, he believes his past actions to be misconstrued.
"My dad is easily one of my biggest inspirations to play this game," Smith said. "To hear people talk bad about me, it hurts me because I know it hurts him, and that's not who I am. And I know he raised me better, and I know I want to do better. Just everything I do is for my parents and my family. I mean, I don't really — the cars are nice, the houses are nice, but none of this matters without them. If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't be here. I don't know where I would be, honestly. If it wasn't for them, if it wasn't for the structure and the backbone that I have, I wouldn't be able to mess up and keep coming back and being able to sit in front of you as a world champion."
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