J. R. Smith has had a fantastic career in the NBA, but he has since moved on to other endeavors. He is currently part of the golf team at North Carolina A&T university and is pursuing a college degree in liberal studies.
Recently, J. R. Smith opened up on how similar basketball is to golf, pointing out that as a shooter, his touch is also useful in golf. He also stated that one has to “have different shots” that they have to be able to hit. Jack Hirsch of Golf.com relayed Smith’s words.
“Being a shooter, my touch [translates to golf]. You have to be able to recreate some of the same shots over and over and over again. And have different shots in your arsenal.”
The two-time NBA title winner, who is 36, joined the North Carolina A&T golf team last fall and saw action in four events his freshman season.
“For me, I liked to shoot off balance,” he said. “So I used to lean left, right, forward, back, off one leg. Left leg, right leg. And in golf we got sidehill, downhill, uphill. So many different ways to play the shots. For me it just makes it easier.”
Hopefully, we see J. R. Smith continue to thrive in his college journey, and it was notably reported that he had a 4.0 GPA during his first semester of college. It is clear that Smith is putting his best foot forward in the pursuit of higher education, all while improving his golf skills.
We have notably seen other athletes, such as Stephen Curry try their hand at golf. Stephen Curry is also an elite shooter, so perhaps there’s a lot of merit to the idea that shooting touch can translate to golf. Perhaps we’ll see more NBA shooters become golfers in the future.
