After Cleveland's win in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals, the only Cavaliers player who was anywhere near as emotional as LeBron James was J.R. Smith. Smith cried on the court and this image started making the rounds on social media almost immediately:
But those weren’t the only tears Smith shed on Sunday night. Far from it, actually. After the Cavaliers collected the Larry O’Brien Trophy and went back to their locker room, Smith held a post-game press conference, and he was extremely emotional throughout it. His tears continued to flow throughout his presser, as he talked about how much his family means to him and what they've done to help him overcome adversity. It was easily one of the best moments of the entire NBA Playoffs. Watch it, here:
Here’s a transcript of Smith’s speech, which included a portion devoted specifically to his father:
That Smith’s press conference took place on Father’s Day made it all the more special.
Plenty of people had jokes about Smith being an NBA champion on Twitter after the game:
But the things he said during his press conference really summed up what being an NBA champion is all about. And all jokes aside (we've made a lot of them, too, over the years), it's nice to see how much winning a title truly means to a player like Smith.
