The Cleveland Cavaliers may have earned a hard-fought victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday because of the solid performances of LeBron James and Kevin Love, but they should also be thankful for Cavs teammate J.R. Smith, who stepped up big-time on the night as well.
Despite struggling through the first 10 games of the campaign, Smith regained his hot shooting and had a breakout performance. He finished with a season-high 20 points, including five 3-pointers, and added a rebound and steal for good measure.
When asked to give his reaction to the veteran shooting guard’s good game, James jokingly shared what he thinks made the difference for Smith. He explained, via Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com, how he talked him into agreeing to wear his signature shoes, which proved to work to Smith’s advantage.
“Swish is my guy and he’s been struggling the first 10 games, obviously, we all know that,” James said. “I told him it was the shoes. He finally decided to wear my shoes. After a long conversation we finally decided to wear them and he had a breakout game. But it was just good, man, he mixed it up tonight. He hit the 3-ball, got into the paint. That was Swish. We’re gonna need more of that from him.”
It may seem like a hilarious take on how to make the 32-year-old regain his old form, but at this point, the Cavs will definitely accept all the help they can get in order to string a few more wins together.
Now 5-6 on the season, it won’t be surprising if Smith will continue to wear The King’s shoes in the future, for as long as he shoots the way he did versus the Bucks. Their fans certainly don’t mind it, and it’s clear that James himself also wants him to keep on sporting them on the court too.