J.R. Smith is known for his basketball career. But after 16 seasons and two NBA Championships, he wanted something more, so he turned to golf. And he did it the collegiate way.
It was a different journey than being on the court. He was a star, but being on the golf course, there was a level of respect he was dying to earn.
Smith decided to go back to college, and with a little help from C.J. Paul, the older brother of 12-time NBA All-Star Chris Paul, he added golf into the equation as well.
“I’m way more than a basketball player, I’m a man with so much integrity and thought and awareness of my surroundings,” Smith told Golf.com’s Claire Rogers. I can’t look at myself just as an athlete, but I don’t want other people and my kids looking at me as just an athlete.”
Smith ended up with a 4.0 GPA as he walked onto the North Carolina A&T’s golf team. Thanks to him, people didn’t even know the college had golf.
How did his golf obsession start? Well …
Rashard Lewis was hosting a golf event to raise money for the community and Smith was simply messing around — even talking smack to some of the guys playing. That’s when someone asked Smith to show everyone what he’s got.
“I went out there, hit the ball and hit it literally — a perfect drive, and I was like, ‘There’s nothing to it.’ Golf — you don’t have to be an athlete essentially.”
Smith said an hour and a half later he tried it again and he couldn’t hit it in what began as an addiction.
[Golf.com]
