In order to make it to the highest level of competition, players sometimes need to have more than confidence.
They need an ego.
This isn’t necessarily the case for everyone, but there are plenty of players in the NBA who believe they are the very best at what they do, even if they know deep inside that it’s not true. That’s how we get comments like this from players like Jordan Crawford:
“I don’t tell nobody, but I feel like I can be better than Michael Jordan,” Crawford said, without the slightest hint of sarcasm. “When I’m done playing, I don’t want people to say, Michael Jordan is the best player. I want that to be me. That’s how I am. That’s how I was built.”
Um, what? You realize people will look at you sideways and think you’re crazy for saying that, right?
“Yeah, I know that, I definitely know that. But I’m not settling for anything less,” Crawford said. “I feel like I’m better than him, anyway. My mom is going to say I’m better than him.”
It’s why Stephen Curry – one of the most humble guys in the league – went on The Dan Patrick Show earlier in August and told the host that he’s a better offensive player than LeBron James, and it’s why James Harden recently said he’s the best basketball player alive despite knowing (probably) that this clip is out there for all to see. Curry may be the only player of the mentioned names who actually may have a case with what he said. For everyone else, it really boils down to ego, and that’s obvious when a bench player claims to be better than Michael friggin Jordan.
J.R. Smith of the New York Knicks had one of those ego moments on Monday when he decided to post this message on instagram, saying he’s “on pace to be one of the best shooters the game had ever seen”:
They said I wouldn’t make it! I did! They said I wouldn’t stay! This is my 11th yr! They said you… http://t.co/xaZQxjqnv7
— JR Smith (@TheRealJRSmith) August 26, 2014
Smith had a point to prove with his message: throughout his career, he has proven his doubters wrong. No one can blame him for saying that, given his status as an accomplished NBA player. As he said, he is going into his 11th year in the league and may be the starting shooting guard for Derek Fisher in the upcoming season.
That said, on pace to be one of the best shooters ever? I’m not sure if there are many that would be on board with that statement unless you take the overall accuracy part of it out of the equation, but he is undoubtedly one of the more intriguing long-range shooters currently in the league. Assuming he meant three-point shooting when he said “best shooters”, Smith currently has 1,312 career 3-pointers made and has an overall average of 37.1 percent shooting. That’s already 30th on the all-time list.
Given that he is only 28 (soon to be 29), the guard has plenty of time to add to his totals. In comparison, Jason Terry, who is fourth all-time in makes with 1,950, only had 922 3-pointers made by the time he was 28. Smith has an advantage in terms of accumulation because he started his career straight out of high school at the age of 19.
If Smith can stay healthy and play another seven to eight years, where he belongs among the all-time greats may actually be a legitimate conversation to be had down the road.
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James Park is a blogger and editor of Sheridan Hoops. Follow him on twitter @SheridanBlog.