Lakers’ JR Smith Reveals His Only Teammate Beef in His Entire Career

JR Smith is making some pretty awesome headlines these days, and this time he talks about the single teammate beef he had in his career.

Smith and his Los Angeles Lakers won the 2020 NBA Championship and the veteran was shirtless during the locker room celebration. A typical Smith celebration. Although Smith joined the Lakers to help the team inside the Orlando Bubble, he had great success on the floor.

Lakers head coach Frank Vogel didn’t give Smith too many minutes on the floor. But, Smith used his time to show everyone that he is one of the most prolific three-point shooters in league history.

The 35-year-old has had a great time with his teammates. NBA fans have recognized Smith as an incredibly animated player on the Lakers bench to celebrate the success of his teammates. In other words, we can’t really imagine Smith beefing with his teammates.

Well, the awesome Smith did dislike one particular teammate in his 17-year career. Sam Dekker is the only teammate Smith didn’t like.

JR Smith recalls his only teammate beef

Dekker is in Turkey now, and he was playing in the NBA from 2015-2019. He spent a short time with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2018. It was quite enough for him to get into a beef with Smith.

Smith appeared on the All Things Covered podcast with Patrick Peterson and Bryant McFadden. He talked about his career and the time he had with Dekker. Truth is, the two-time NBA champion never got along with this particular teammate. Dekker also spent time with the Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Clippers and Washington Wizards before making his way to Turkey.

The Lakers veteran didn’t share too many details. One thing stands for sure. Dekker wasn’t really into elevating his teammates.

“He’s a person who’s very aware of somebody else’s circumstances and wanna keep him there as opposed to trying to help him elevate up, and i don’t respect anything about that,” Smith said.

Smith has spent time with the New Orleans Hornets, Cavaliers, Denver Nuggets, and New York Knicks. He had a misunderstanding with Dekker and had a great time with his other teammates. Simple as that.