{"id":741862,"date":"2026-06-17T07:20:18","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T07:20:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/741862\/"},"modified":"2026-06-17T07:20:18","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T07:20:18","slug":"j-r-smith-reveals-lebron-james-is-still-mad-at-his-crucial-mistake-at-the-nba-finals-in-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/741862\/","title":{"rendered":"J.R. Smith Reveals LeBron James Is Still Mad At His Crucial Mistake At The NBA Finals In 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"

It has been eight years since the LeBron James<\/a>-led Cleveland Cavaliers<\/a> were swept 4-0 in the 2018 NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors<\/a>. But apparently, James is still reeling from the emotions of that series, nearly a decade later.<\/p>\n

The NBA veteran, J.R. Smith<\/a>, who has won two NBA championships with James, including one with the Los Angeles Lakers<\/a>, recently sat down on the Pivot podcast and spoke about his side of the story on what the world perceived to be the biggest mistake in his NBA career near the end of Game 1 of the 2018 NBA Finals.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

George Hill misses\u2026.<\/p>\n

JR Smith rebound\u2026 AND HE DRIBBLES IT OUT?!<\/p>\n

OVERTIME!?!?!?! pic.twitter.com\/mniWDuMbxG<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Def Pen Hoops (@DefPenHoops) June 1, 2018<\/a><\/p>\n

In Game 1, the scores were tied at 107-107 when J.R. Smith gathered a crucial rebound on a missed free throw and dribbled out the clock instead of trying to tip the ball in or look for his own shot. Smith feels he had a valid reason for that.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was dribbling it out. So, first I got the rebound. I\u2019m thinking we\u2019re going to call a timeout because at that point, the game is per possession. Yeah. 107-107. So, I\u2019m thinking, okay, bet. We\u2019re not about to rush. We\u2019re going to get the best shot possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAny other time, you look at it, and even now, teams do it. You get the rebound, you call a timeout and get it to your best player, and then they make the play. That\u2019s how it goes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t hear a whistle. So, I was like, \u2018All right, s\u2013t I\u2019m going to take this b\u2014- to the corner.\u2019 Like, let me get some space. KD is seven feet. I ain\u2019t about to shoot over this dude right here on an offensive rebound. He tripping. Let me get to the corner. Nobody has said anything.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I\u2019m like, \u2018All right, bet.\u2019 Yo, Bron. Yo, it looked like they were trying to deny Bron. So I\u2019m dribbling it out to get the ball to Bron. Like, \u2018Bro, if I shoot this s\u2014 they\u2019re going to be mad as f\u2013k, you shoot this s\u2014 they\u2019re going to be like, well, we\u2019re going to live and die with that.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, I\u2019m just like, the whole time I\u2019m like, man, listen, let me get this s\u2014 out of here. Get the big fella. He\u2019s going to do what he has to do. Worst comes to worst, we\u2019ve got a timeout.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, I\u2019m not going to call a timeout cause then if I call a timeout, they\u2019re going to be like, \u2018man, you wasted our timeout.\u2019 Like, bro, come on, man. Don\u2019t do that. Don\u2019t do me like that, bro.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, he was hot. He was hot. He was legitimately confused cause he didn\u2019t understand what was happening right now? And I looked at I\u2019m literally looking at him\u2026. like, \u2018Bro, this is your job. You have to like that\u2019s why you don\u2019t get the big bucks. They don\u2019t pay me enough for this s\u2013t, right?\u201d Smith added on LeBron\u2019s reaction to the incident, which he reveals lingers even to this day in a way.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe never talked about that. He\u2019s still mad. He is still mad. Oh, he\u2019s so mad, still mad,\u201d Smith said in conclusion<\/a>.<\/p>\n

James finished that night with 51 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists while shooting 59.4% from the field, and it was still not enough as the Warriors eventually won 124-114 in Game 1.<\/p>\n

The NBA superstar was only 33 years old at the time and playing in the prime of his career. LeBron James ended that series averaging 34.0 points, 10.0 assists, and 8.5 rebounds while going 52.7% from the field and 33.3% from beyond the arc.<\/p>\n

He nearly averaged a triple-double to carry the Cavaliers in the NBA Finals. But to this day, it might still be eating him up that some unforced errors could have gone his way.<\/p>\n

James described it as one of the \u201cmost heartbreaking losses\u201d in his NBA career after that game, and said, \u201cI don\u2019t know what J.R. was thinking,\u201d during the postgame press conference back in 2018.<\/p>\n

Any player is bound to be heartbroken when such unforced mistakes cost you your prime.\u00a0Nearly a decade later, if the two have still not spoken about the incident, these comments could finally reveal to James what Smith was thinking and maybe help the two former teammates find closure on the incident personally.<\/p>\n