Cleveland Cavaliers swingman J.R. Smith predicted that the NBA wanted him out of All-Star Weekend, and it turned out to be a self-fulfilling prophecy: Smith did not get picked to take part in the Foot Locker Three-Point Contest.
Smith considers himself one of the best long-distance shooters in the history of the game, and says participants should be selected on more than just stats.
J.R. is shooting just under forty percent from beyond the arc through 46 games this season.
Per ESPN:
“Other than stats and analytics and everything they use on everything else, I hope they just use better judgment,” Smith said Friday morning when asked what criteria should be weighed when making selections. […] Smith ranks 18th all-time in 3-pointers made with 1,584 as of Friday and is ninth among active players. Of the eight active players ahead of him on the all-time list, only two of them (Jamal Crawford and Vince Carter) have never been invited to the contest, like Smith, a 12-year veteran.
Smith’s 39.6 percent from 3 this season also ranks ahead of Bosh (36.6) and Harden (34.6), and his 109 made 3s are more than Bosh (78), Booker (53) and Middleton (100) each have. […] “There can’t be too many guys in the field that has more career 3s or more games with eight or more made in a game that’s actively still playing now,” said LeBron James, who publicly stumped for Smith’s inclusion last month. “It is what it is. There’s nothing we can do about it.”
“At the end of the day, it’s not my decision,” Smith said. “I really can’t be mad, I guess. Well, I can, but I try to not let that bother me. We’re in first place in our division, so at the end of the day, this is about wins and losses for us, not about who is going to All-Star Weekend.” […] “I feel as though I’m one of the best 3-point shooters to play, regardless if it’s this year, last year or when I was 4-years old,” Smith said.
