VIDEO: J.R. Smith Poignantly Broke Down in Tears on Podium, Hugged His Father

J.R. Smith has had a roller coaster journey on and off the court. For much of his career, it would have been inconceivable to think that he would play 39 minutes on the winning team in Game 7 of the NBA Finals. Much of the accolades will and should go to LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Love for their performances in the game, but it should be noted that Smith scored eight quick points in the first 2.5 minutes of the third quarter, which the Cavs entered down seven.

At the postgame podium, Smith was tearful, reflective, and poignant. The video is well worth watching. “My parents, my family are still the biggest inspiration of my life,” he said, in response to a question about Father’s Day. “I’ve been in a lot of dark spots in my life, and if it wasn’t for them I wouldn’t be able to get out of it. But they are who they are. They fought with me. They yelled at me, they screamed at me, they loved me, they hugged me, they cried with me.”

“They always stuck by my side, no matter right or wrong,” he continued. “I know a lot of people don’t have their parents in their life – their mother or their father – but I’ve got the best two, you guys were, I swear. It’s six of us, they didn’t treat any of us different, they loved us the same. I just wanted to be like them when I grew up. My Dad is easily one of my biggest inspirations to play this game, and to hear people talk bad about me it hurts me because I know it hurts him. That’s not who I am, and I know he raised better, and I know I want to do better and just everything I do is for my parents and my family. The cars are nice, the houses are nice, but none of this matters without them.”