JR Smith was no fan of Sam Dekker during their brief time as teammates.
Appearing recently on the “All Things Covered” podcast, the Los Angeles Lakers swingman took a shot at Dekker. Smith, a 16-year NBA veteran, said that Dekker was the only teammate in his career that he ever disliked.
“Throughout my whole career, it’s only one teammate I really don’t like,” said Smith. “And he know (sic) that. And everybody else, I’m just cool with. This dude Sam Dekker, dog. I can’t – this dude. He did some bulls— on the bus one day, talking some Trump s—, and I just wasn’t having it.
“For what question he asked, it’s a thought pattern,” Smith went on. “You’re taught that. It’s not like – it’s the hate you give. And I feel like it’s something you’re taught. It’s not – the privilege he has was taught to him, and he took heed of it and run with it even further than somebody who was not – who was oblivious to what they have and the life they lived. Because some people just go through their life – not not necessarily knowing, but not aware and privy to somebody else’s circumstances. He’s a person who’s just very aware of somebody else’s circumstances and want to keep them there, as opposed to try to help him elevate up. And I don’t respect anything about that.”
Smith, who just won a championship with the Lakers, was only teammates with Dekker for a few months on the Cleveland Cavaliers. Dekker, 26, was acquired by the Cavs in Aug. 2018 and played in just eight games for them before being flipped to the Washington Wizards just three months later.
Meanwhile, the former Wisconsin star Dekker is now playing in Turkey. As for his sociopolitical views, they once led to a fairly crazy viral story.
