in two Summer League games<\/a>, averaging 35.5 points per game in Las Vegas. Smith Jr. hoped the performance would lead the recently-hired Udoka to expand his offensive role. It didn\u2019t happen, leading to a pivotal crossroads in the young forward\u2019s career a couple months into his second year.\u00a0<\/p>\nSmith spoke with his father,\u00a0Jabari Smith Sr., and agent, Wallace Prather, about how to approach his dissatisfaction. Prather preached patience, noting that even the appearance of personal agendas amid a successful season\u00a0\u2014 Houston was en route to a 19-win improvement\u00a0\u2014 wouldn\u2019t be a good look. Smith Sr. recalled the agent explaining that vocalizing discontent might lead Smith Jr. to take on a villain role, leading to increased scrutiny.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t run your mouth when you\u2019re winning,\u201d Smith Sr. said. \u201cYou\u2019d look like a fool to complain about your role.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Prather advised his client to speak with Udoka and express his desire for increased responsibilities on both ends of the floor.<\/p>\n
Smith Jr. said unhappiness didn\u2019t lead him to seek the meeting\u00a0\u2014 it was more an opportunity to find out what his new head coach wanted from him. Udoka told him to play harder and not settle for jumpshots as often. The coach also encouraged Smith Jr. to be aggressive on both ends.<\/p>\n
They had a similar conversation before this season, with Smith Jr. asking to assume more defensive responsibility with former stalwart Dillon Brooks traded to the Phoenix Suns. Smith Jr. has also seen slightly increased offensive responsibilities this season, with career-high rates running isolation and pick and rolls, per NBArapm.com.<\/p>\n
\u201cJabari is the ultimate pro and a selfless player,\u201d Udoka said. \u201cHe understands what the team needs and provides a bunch of different roles for the team but as most young guys are, he\u2019s ambitious.\u201d<\/p>\n
Smith Jr. is a winner, former teammate and childhood friend Deshon Proctor said.<\/p>\n
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Smith Jr.’s motivation stems in part from losing the Georgia 3A state championship game in his senior year with Tyrone Sandy Creek. He and Proctor\u00a0rewatched the game on a whim a couple years ago. Both remain baffled by the defeat.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we play them 20 more times, we\u2019ll probably beat them 19 times out of the one time they beat us,\u201d Smith Jr. said. \u201cYou think it\u2019s that simple. The team that\u2019s better is supposed to win, but it comes down to fight and comes down to so many different things. And I\u2019ve learned that, and I know that me being on this level, and knowing those things I know I will win the championship one day.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
With that being the case, a reporter offered Smith Jr. a blind r\u00e9sum\u00e9\u00a0for an active NBA player.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Player X was never an All Star and averaged about 16 points, six rebounds and three assists per game this season. He was a key piece on a recent title team, beloved by fans, and will finish his career with more than $200 million in earnings. Would Smith Jr. be happy with that outcome for himself?<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah obviously, I\u2019ll be happy with it,\u201d he said, correctly guessing the player as Denver Nuggets wing Aaron Gordon. \u201cBut I still got dreams. I got aspirations. I got things I want to accomplish in this league.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Gordon\u2019s career unfolded differently than Smith Jr. He was drafted by the Orlando Magic and started with a featured role, only downsizing after being traded to Denver.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Udoka had a different comparison for Smith Jr.’s development arc.<\/p>\n
\u201cReminds me of Kawhi Leonard back in the day,\u201d Udoka said. He was an assistant coach with the San Antonio Spurs for much of Leonard\u2019s tenure. The forward started as a role player before emerging into one of the league\u2019s best two-way talents.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you talk to Kawhi now,\u201d Udoka said, \u201che\u2019s pissed about standing in the corner for three years. He felt like he wasted some years, but I think the growth and progression that we had in San Antonio \u2014 to become a spot-up shooter to a pick-and-roll guy to a post-and-isolation guy \u2014 was good for him, instead of just throwing him in there when he wasn\u2019t ready for it. A little bit of that with Jabari.\u201d<\/p>\n
That is of course an unlikely outcome \u2014 Leonard is one of the singular talents of the past 20 years. But it isn\u2019t impossible, especially with Smith Jr. just 22 and holding onto desires of being a multi-time All Star and champion.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it happens, it happens. It\u2019s not something I\u2019m going to search for or I got to have. I want to be able to put the work in where I\u2019m at and it happens naturally,\u201d he said. “\u2026 I have aspirations. Everybody has aspirations to have their own team and accomplish those type of things. But it\u2019s not something that I\u2019m trying to navigate or get to. I think where I\u2019m at, I can keep getting better.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jabari Smith Jr. has become a complementary player rather than the centerpiece expected with his draft status, but…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":252620,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[56,58,57],"class_list":{"0":"post-252619","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston","8":"tag-houston","9":"tag-houston-headlines","10":"tag-houston-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252619","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=252619"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252619\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/252620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=252619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=252619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=252619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}