[Marc Spears] Houston Rockets forward Jabari Smith, Jr., 21, serving as a special NBA media member for Game 1 of the Finals, asked Celtics forward Jayson Tatum what advice would he would give to a 21-year-old player who hasn’t lived up to expectations so far in their NBA career.
by MagicMoocher
31 Comments
So what did he say?
Dang, that’s kind of sad.
“Definitely not cosplaying a media member.”
what being in the same draft class as Paolo and Chet does to a mf
I’m a fan of Jabari and I still think he’s going to be a really good player. He’s certainly shown flashes.
Jabari way too hard on himself lol. 21 year olds should not be expected to be stars out of the gates.
21 yo tatum was in the conf finals i cant
Jabari Smith was nice this year
Maybe he’s not in the light that Chet and Paolo are in currently, but Bari made some drastic improvements from year 1 to 2, where there was a lot of concerns and questions of did we get the player that was advertised when drafted. Defensively he’s one of our best options who can guard multiple positions, and his three-point shooting has been a lot better in comparison to the first year. He still has much more to work on and grow into which is why I get some of the self-criticism but he shouldn’t be so hard on himself lol
This makes me sad. Jabari is my daughter’s favorite player.
that feels like he’s being a little harsh on himself, Jabari was pretty solid this year
…wasn’t Tatum an all-star at 21 though
League fucked. They’re not ready for a superstar fueled by the power of imposter syndrome.
Jabari really is the middle child. Dude has no badges on 2K either
he got better this year and houston isnt garbage and they have a good team. media set him up and talked him into the convo w chet and paolo during draft when that was never who he was. he’ll be a solid contributor at worst
[Youtube link to the video that someone can put on streamable for karma](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3p2xCJRCFqw&t=447s)
he forgot to say I’m asking for a friend
Can I just say I’ve been very happy with Jabari this past season? A stretch big that put up 13 points and 8 rebounds a game on good effeciency as the fourth option who’s also a good defender? Hell yeah. It’s not his fault he’s playing behind guys like Şengün, Nov/Dec/March Green and former All-Star VanVleet. I’d be nice if he broke out in a huge way but he’s far from a disappointment in my eyes.
Asking for a friend.
he hit himself with a stray…the plaxico.
I’m still holding Jabari stock.
I like his game. He’ll be a really solid player imo
okay but, like, what did he say?
His first year wasn’t great and that’s completely okay as a rookie. I think he took a nice jump for year 2. He’s being way too hard to himself.
This guy is 21, what are the Rockets saying to him
Jabari is still young. He’s younger than rookies like Jacquez and even future rookies like Knecht. He has plenty of time to get better.
He still has time. He isn’t a terrible player. But it doesn’t help that he’s probably facing comparisons to Chet and Paolo.
Damn
Dude’s made a few comments like this, it’s good to want to be better but he feels kinda too harsh on himself
I’ll always remember him being the first guy to hold Giannis under 20 points when Milwaukee played Houston in like December of 22. Super impressed with his defensive instincts
I like Jabari a lot. I don’t think he’s a #1 guy and he might be holding himself to those expectations which is unfair.
Dude is young and was better across the board this year than his rookie campaign. Just keep grinding my guy.