LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — There was a time when the man sitting here could do almost anything.
“I have a lot of talent,” J.R. Smith says simply. “I could have probably gone professional at three or four different sports.”
Smith is not bragging, and this is not hyperbole. Some athletes overstate their ability to play other sports—whenever an NFL player says he could have been an Olympic sprinter, be skeptical. But Smith is the exception. He really is that talented. He has played 16 seasons in the NBA, but he received high Division I interest in football before giving it up, and he was better at baseball than both.