NBA-ийн хоёр удаагийн аварга J.R. Smith өнгөрсөн долоо хоногт Нью-Йорк Никс багийн тоглолтыг үзэж сонирхох үеэрээ өөрийн шинэ амжилтаараа бахархаж буйгаа илэрхийллээ. Сагсан бөмбөгийн талбайд 16 улирлыг өнгөрүүлсэн тэрбээр Хойд Каролинагийн A&T их сургуулийг либерал судлал болон маркетингийн чиглэлээр бакалаврын зэрэгтэй төгссөн бөгөөд 4.0 буюу онц дүнтэй дүүргэсэн байна.
Smith-ийн боловсролын замнал нь 2004 онд NBA-д шууд элсэн орсноос хойшхи амьдралынх нь шинэ үе шат болсон юм. Тэрбээр сургуулийнхаа гольфийн багт элсэж, академик амжилтаараа 2021-22 оны шилдэг оюутан-тамирчнаар шалгарчээ. Хэдийгээр хүүхэд насандаа суралцах тал дээр хүндрэлтэй тулгардаг байсан ч, одоо өөрийгөө жинхэнэ оюутан-тамирчин хэмээн тодорхойлж, цаашид магистрын зэрэг хамгаалах, сургуулийнхаа спортын захирал болох алсын зорилготой байгаагаа хуваалцлаа.
Түүний багш нар Smith-ийн суралцах хүсэл эрмэлзэл, хичээл зүтгэлийг өндрөөр үнэлж байна. Тэрбээр NBA-ийн тоглогчийн дүр төрхөөс гадна боловсролын салбарт өөрийн нэрийг гаргахыг эрмэлзэж байгаа бөгөөд энэ нь түүний хувьд спортын амжилтуудаас нь дутахааргүй чухал ололт болсон байна.
Дэлгэрэнгүй эх сурвалжийг харах
Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
J.R. Smith gleamed with pride as he watched the New York Knicks’ Game 1 win over the Philadelphia 76ers last Monday in the NBA Eastern Conference semifinals. His smile was as noticeable as the North Carolina A&T jacket he boastfully donned in and around Madison Square Garden, a place he called home for three-plus seasons.
There was an added sense of gratification when Smith spoke about the jacket — which resulted in discussions about his post-graduation plans.
When some basketball fans think of Smith, they still remember him as the athletic wing with the Cleveland Cavaliers, being on the floor with a frustrated LeBron James after an unforgettable judgment error following a rebound during Game 1 of the 2018 NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors. Others might even recall some of the fines Smith accumulated for silly antics.
But Smith had thousands of people focusing on his latest achievement from Saturday, specifically those at First Horizon Coliseum in Greensboro, N.C. The two-time NBA champion, who played 16 seasons in the league and was named Sixth Man of the Year in 2013, graduated from North Carolina A&T with a bachelor’s degree in liberal studies and a minor in marketing.
The commencement ceremony was the culmination of a promise Smith made to his mother before choosing to forego college after attending St. Benedict’s Prep in Newark, N.J., and declare for the NBA Draft in 2004.
The added bonus? Smith graduated from North Carolina A&T with a 4.0 grade-point average. As a former member of the university’s golf team.
“I feel like I’m able to be recognized for something that I can appreciate, and it means a lot to me,” Smith told The Athletic.
Smith was selected by the New Orleans Hornets as the 18th pick in the 2004 NBA Draft. He competed for NBA championships with playing for the Cavaliers with James in 2016 and playing for the Los Angeles Lakers, again with James, in 2020. He scored 12,148 points playing 16 seasons with the Hornets, the Knicks, the Cavaliers, the Lakers and the Denver Nuggets. Smith additionally spent the 2011-12 season in China, signing a one-year deal with the Zhejiang Golden Bulls as the NBA dealt with a lockout.
He played his final NBA season with the Lakers in the 2019-20 season. Smith enrolled at North Carolina A&T, a historically Black college in Greensboro, in 2021 and also joined the golf team as a walk-on.
Smith took various classes but enjoyed learning about the history of Africa and how the past tied to today. There was sports history and other projects Smith became enamored with, making him wish he’d learned the information while he was still playing in the NBA.
And he did it all while maintaining an A average. After years of not being taken seriously, academic success is what Smith wants to be known for.
“A lot of places I go, I’m recognized for being who I am, but not necessarily in a positive way,” Smith said. “It’s either Hennessy or something stupid, being fined or something like that. Or the Game 1 offensive rebound situation.
“For a lot of people, there’s a lot of humor around it, (but) it’s something I take very seriously. I have to play it lightly, because obviously I don’t wanna show my irritation continuously when people see me.”
Being a 40-year-old college graduate is nothing to laugh about. Particularly as someone who admittedly struggled with learning disabilities as a child, such as ADHD and dyslexia. He said he never was good at school but “had to learn how to let go of a lot of traumas around my education.”
“I would take the hall pass damn near every class and just be in the hallways (in high school). I was with the girls, doing dumb s—, failing,” Smith said. “A lot of the time, they would pass me because I was talented, and they wanted me to play on the team. When I got to St. Benedict’s, that’s when (former head basketball coach and current Connecticut coach Dan) Hurley made me buckle down.”
Although obtaining a college degree was the ultimate goal, the competitor in Smith felt there was more to attending North Carolina A&T. Richard Watkins, the men’s golf coach at that time, met Smith before he enrolled and noticed that he had the right attitude about academics and trying a new sport. Smith said he quickly learned he wasn’t as advanced a golfer as his teammates, but he was willing to listen in an effort to become better.
After trying out for and making the golf team, Smith qualified for his first college tournament, the Phoenix Invitational hosted by Elon University, in 2021. Smith went on to be named the Aggies’ Academic Athlete of the Year for 2021-22. His post-NBA story was told in “Redefined: J.R. Smith,” a 2023 Prime Video docuseries featuring James and Maverick Carter as executive producers.
J.R. Smith, shown here in 2021, competed in his first tournament as a member of the North Carolina A&T golf team, the Phoenix Invitational hosted by Elon University. (Grant Halverson / Getty Images)
Watkins, who worked in higher education for 45 years before retiring in 2023, admitted there were some who questioned why someone who earned reportedly more than $90 million in a pro basketball career would be in college. Watkins said nontraditional students like Smith are often more focused in the midst of studying along with the responsibilities that come with being older.
“This man is back here to do what he wants to do for nobody but him,” Watkins said. “Yes, he’s been successful. Yes, he’s got money. But everything that counts can’t be counted. He’s back here for him. This is something that he had to do for himself.”
Smith’s 6-foot-6 frame stood tall with teammates on the multiple courses. Still, getting a degree held top priority during his time on the North Carolina A&T campus. He worked long hours with tutors and put in a lot of time to become an exceptional student.
And Smith isn’t done with his educational goals. He plans on obtaining a master’s degree and would like to eventually become North Carolina A&T’s athletic director. He also wants to take more entrepreneurship classes and hopes that his story inspires other former pro athletes not to give up on academics.
Smith said he took multiple North Carolina A&T classes with liberal studies professor Marco Morris. Smith added that Morris and his tutors, Kim Burke and Sydney Lawson, were keys to his success, along with the rest of the support staff on campus.
Because of them, Smith the athlete truly became Smith the student-athlete. The individual who once grappled with learning disabilities emerged into a scholarly critical thinker.
“It felt like they cared about me as an individual, opposed to what I can do for them,” Smith said. “What A&T has done is just give me endless counts of people who I feel like are aunties, uncles, brothers, sisters, cousins … like, in distant form, who really care about Earl Smith the person and not just J.R. Smith the basketball player.”
Smith added: “I can’t take anything for granted on what people tell me. I think that’s the biggest beauty about going to schools like A&T. They really opened my eyes and (my) thinking, not necessarily conspiracy theory, but it’s always, like, take the extra step to do your due diligence.”
Smith no longer pretends to accept being the butt of jokes, or accept the memes that depicted him in unflattering ways during his NBA days, a time when he was not happy with his public persona. It’s been a journey to reach this point of his life.
A journey that he truly appreciates.
“I think that’s one of the hidden gems behind going back to school,” Smith said. “Now you wanna do it, you really wanna learn. When you were a kid, you’re forced to learn.”
