J.R Smith says he and other big names are being blackballed by the NBA

A former star of the NBA has taken aim at the league and believes he and several other big names are being blackballed.

JR Smith says he’s being blackballed. Maddie Meyer/Getty Images/AFP

J.R. Smith feels that he’s been “blackballed” from the NBA.

Smith, 36, hopped on a Complex Sports interview with Pierce Simpson to unveil his feelings.

When asked if he feels he’s been “blackballed” from the NBA, Smith let his emotions run loose about the topic, the NY Post reports.

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“100 per cent. Anybody can sit here and tell you that that’s a fact,” he said.

“Give the four through 15th men, just the four through 15. Name one of them that’s better than me … I’ve watched their GM come up to me and ask me, ‘Why are you not playing?’”

Smith notched a Sixth Man of the Year trophy with the Knicks in 2013 and won two titles as a prominent role player during his 16 years in the NBA.

But the ex-NBA guard became well-known for his blunder of passing the ball in the waning seconds of Game 1 of the 2018 NBA Finals instead of putting up a shot.

Oh JR, no. Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images/AFP

After the mistake, he played a total of 17 NBA games. He now plays college golf for North Carolina A&T State University and was named the college’s academic athlete of the year.

Smith added on the podcast that he’s not alone in getting blackballed, that other players such as Joe Johnson, Jamal Crawford and Nick Young have been ostracised from getting a contract, too.

“You know why I’m not playing,” Smith said in the interview. “I feel that it’s a whole genre that [it has] happened to.”

J.R. Smith says he, Jamal Crawford, Isaiah Thomas, Nick Young and Joe Johnson have been blackballed from the NBA.

Link below for full #ComplexVolume story and interview with J.R. Smith.

🔗: https://t.co/HJEfAcMDgCpic.twitter.com/sR7XsSbztz

— Complex Sports (@ComplexSports) September 2, 2022

This article originally appeared on the NY Post and was reproduced with permission.

Originally published as J.R Smith says he and other big names are being blackballed by the NBA