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JR Smith Has One Piece of Golf Advice for LeBron James

He gave his honest opinion on his former teammate’s golf potential in an interview on the Golf Channel.

Gabrielle Herzig

JR Smith Has One Piece of Golf Advice for LeBron James
JR Smith Has One Piece of Golf Advice for LeBron James /

JR Smith is known to encourage his peers to try out the game of golf, but when asked about LeBron James’s potential on the course, he had to be realistic. 

The NBA champion and now North Carolina A&T men's golf team member called into Golf Channel on Monday to talk about his experience as an NCAA golfer, his practice regimen and more. 

Smith’s face lit up when host Damon Hack asked him about videos circulating of James’s golf swing. Back in October, James was spotted at Topgolf. It’s safe to say his swing needs a little bit of work, and Smith is well aware of that. 

"The golf game, I don’t know if he has the fluidity—I’m just going to say—to perfect that swing," Smith told Golf Channel. "Or not perfect it, but to be one of those guys who can move it around early. I think it’s going to take him a while, he’s going to have to get some lessons. I’m open to teaching him, but obviously I’m not the best either. He has access. I mean he and Tiger [Woods] are Nike [ambassadors], so they can figure that out."

At least Smith was polite in his honest recommendation for James: take some lessons.

Just because the former NBA player had some words of wisdom for James doesn’t mean he wants to steer him away from the links. Smith also noted how special he thinks the game could be for James’s personal life. 

"I would love to get him on the course," Smith said. "For him, I think it would be amazing. Being in nature, being outdoors and being away from everybody, you get to throw your phone in the bag, have a drink, smoke a cigar, just enjoy the time. I think that would be such an amazing part of his life and give him time to himself, that peace of mind."

Last April, Smith was named North Carolina A&T’s Academic Athlete of the Year after he earned a 4.0 GPA. 

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Gabrielle Herzig
GABRIELLE HERZIG

Gabrielle Herzig is a Breaking and Trending News writer for Sports Illustrated Golf. Previously, she worked as a Golf Digest Contributing Editor, an NBC Sports Digital Editorial Intern, and a Production Runner for FOX Sports at the site of the 2018 U.S. Open. Gabrielle graduated as a Politics Major from Pomona College in Claremont, California, where she was a four-year member and senior-year captain of the Pomona-Pitzer women’s golf team. In her junior year, Gabrielle studied abroad in Scotland for three months, where she explored the Home of Golf by joining the Edinburgh University Golf Club.

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