J.R. Smith rips Cavs for leaving him on ‘island’ after 2018 gaffe: ‘Nobody wanted to take responsibility’

By Jason Simpson
Updated: February 15, 2022

J.R. Smith put together a solid NBA career during his 16 seasons in the league.

He spent time with five teams and wound up winning two NBA titles, putting him in a small group of players with multiple championships to their names.

However, when Smith was a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2018 NBA Finals, he made a costly mistake down the stretch in Game 1. His mistake sent the game to overtime, and the Golden State Warriors were ultimately able to come away on top.

The Warriors, of course, ended up sweeping the Cavs in those 2018 NBA Finals. While it probably didn’t impact the outcome of the series, Smith’s blunder has become one of the most infamous basketball plays in recent memory.

He recently opened up about the sequence and expressed his frustration with the way “nobody wanted to take responsibility for it” on the Cavs.

“It was a island because none of the coaches said s—,” Smith said. “It was like nobody wanted to take responsibility for it, so you left me with it. You know what I’m saying? And it’s like, okay, cool. If that’s the way you want to play it, we can’t call ourselves a real team.”

While Smith surely wishes the mishap never happened, he has a lot to be proud of regarding his NBA career. In addition to being a two-time champ, he posted respectable career averages of 12.4 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game.

He knocked down 41.9 percent of his shots from the field throughout his career as well as 37.3 percent of his shots from deep. Without a doubt, the former first-round pick left his mark on the NBA.

Smith last played in the NBA during the 2019-20 season.