Remembering When JR Smith Was The MJ of China | 52pts, 22rebs, 11 3pts, 7stls In A Game

Players in this post:
JR Smith

Today is JR Smith's birthday and I wanted to revisit a specific game or moment in Smith's very unique career for this special day. The obvious choices for games were either his playoff career-high night (28 PTS with 8 3-pointers) in GM1 against the Hawks or when he broke the Knicks 3-point record with 10 3-pointers (NBA record 22 attempts) in 2014. If I was going to go with a memorable moment then either his "you trying to get the pipe" tweet or maybe something about his shoelace fetish.

Nah, instead I'm going to go with a game from his 2011 adventures in China. An adventure that included everything from game-winners, a "season-ending" knee injury, family vs fans fights, unexcused shopping and one Wilt-worthy performance: 52 points, 22 rebounds, 11 3-pointers & 7 steals

After this GOAT-like performance, some people were calling Smith "The MJ of China." What made this label so fitting was Smith was wearing #23 in honor of Michael Jordan. Possession?

So how does the "MJ of China" top a performance like that or live up to the nickname? Two months later, he connected on 14-of-18 from downtown and finished with 60 points....off the bench! He also had 8 rebounds and a game-high 6 steals because when you wear #23 you need to play defense too.

Smith would hang up the #23 and return to reality (the Knicks) later that year and that's when many of those pre-mentioned great moments and games happened.

But on this day, his birthday, I'm forgetting about what he's done in the NBA and celebrating the day(s) he was China's MJ.

32 Games
36.8 Minutes
34.4 Points
7.4 Rebounds
4.1 Assists
2.5 Steals
0.1 Blocks
4.2 Turnovers