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Life isn’t supposed to move this fast in the offseason, but in the last
eight days, he has been arrested in Miami Beach for failing to show up at a
trial last year (his misdeed: driving a scooter without a license), he’s
been linked to an internationally known pop singer named Rihanna, and then he
turned New York atwitter by inviting 20 strangers to go on a bike ride around
Manhattan at 2 in the morning.


The first two sound like ... what? The trappings of fame, let’s call them —
 something J.R. Smith hasn’t always been very good at managing, he readily
admits.


That third event, though, is either a weird byproduct of his irrepressible
charisma, or merely an inspired mobilization of twitter pals who share his
spontaneity and insomnia.


“That was my idea,” the Millstone native and St. Benedict’s Prep product
said. “It was kind of random — we ended up buying these folding bikes in
Miami, and my brother was like, ‘We should ride them in the city.’ And I
said, ‘Let’s ride tonight.’ So I put it on Twitter, and soon enough,
people started showing up.”


Right. But 2 a.m.?


“I have trouble sleeping, so ... why not exercise, you know?” he figured. “
I didn’t think that many people would be up at that time. I know New York
never sleeps, but I thought these people on Twitter would sleep.”


Just proof that wherever J.R. goes, things happen. Contrary to popular
consensus, some of it doesn’t eventually require a court appearance.


For example, we found him associating with a solid class of people Wednesday
at Weequahic Park Golf Course, where his foundation joined with The First Tee
of Essex County, a terrific youth development initiative that provides
educational programs and golf instruction for 120 school kids, most of them
from Newark.




We were sitting in the facility known as the Charles W. Johnson Clubhouse.
They just cut the ribbon on a new wing known as the Youth Learning Center,
which has a classroom, computers, a golf simulator, and a carpet for putting.
And to think, only a few years ago, there was a garbage dump on this site.


“This is the greatest thing, what they turned this into,” the Knicks’
 free-agent swingman said. “I love golf — I’ve had a fascination with golf
the last three years. My dad was trying to get me into it when I was 13, 14. I
’d never play it. But I played one time with Moses Malone, and couldn’t put
it down.”


Smith shot an 88 that day in Houston, three summers ago. “And I haven’t
come close to it since,” he said, with a mixture of irony and disgust. “I
shoot 99s now.”


He had just come in from the course with the aforementioned dad, the
redoubtable Big Earl, and Knicks assistant coach Jim Todd. Outside were the
men who helped build this facility, who had come to kick off the First Tee
summer season — former Assemblyman William Payne, County Executive Joe
DiVincenzo, et al. In a few minutes, Smith would address the kids before they
commenced with their chips and putts.


It’s a busy summer for Smith, and summers have brought some terrible things
to his young life. He lost his best friend, Andre Bell, in the summer of 2007
because of his own vehicular mistake. He served two weeks in Monmouth County
Jail for repeated driving violations in the summer of ’09. Now he has more
positive pursuits planned for his offseasons. His foundation is still helping
Hurricane Katrina victims, and he’s funding two scholarships to St. Benedict
’s this fall.


He spoke of the importance of keeping the parochial schools solvent, “
because it’s crazy now,” he said. “There are so many kids in our area with
so much talent, who need places to go — kids from Elizabeth, Linden, Newark.
”


But at 26, it’s still unclear where Smith himself is heading.


He could return to the Knicks by opting into a deal that pays him $2.44
million next year, and as he put it, “I got money now. ... It’s all about
winning. Whatever is the best situation and the best fit really.”


Judging by their presence on Wednesday (Herb Williams and a publicist were
also here), the Knicks know he’s best qualified to fit the role as their
primary punch guy off the bench — yes, despite that ghastly .316 stroke he
flashed in the Miami series.


But he wants to stay in NYC because it’s close to his folks in Monmouth
County, and despite the recurring weirdness he propagated with such gusto
from New Orleans to Denver, the theory goes that he may encounter less
trouble closer to home. Big Earl, for one, is on the record as saying he
wants J.R. to stick around.


And it was good for the entire family to look on as he spoke to kids about
(quoting the program here) “the life-enhancing values of the game of golf.”

而且對整個家庭來說，看著JR有“提高生命品質的比賽” (JR對孩子們說的話) 是
多好的事兒啊。

That stuff eludes us, but then, we don’t golf.


“Discipline,” J.R. explained, almost matter-of-factly. “Golf teaches
discipline, more than anything.”


A good lesson. One we can all embrace.


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感覺這是JR小屁孩特別的一面，而且看樣子他似乎比較想待一個能贏球的球隊，且
能有個有自己位置的球隊就好，錢的考量反而其次XD

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◆ From: 220.132.20.114
※ 編輯: skymay          來自: 220.132.20.114       (06/16 00:24)

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