Zhaire Smith Was Getting Shots Up With a Tube in His Stomach
Not sure if you guys have been paying attention to thrilling Delaware Blue Coats action, but Zhaire Smith is out there ballin for the boys. Alright, I’m lying, all I saw was he had a putback dunk. BUT, he did have one of the best “basketball guy” quotes of all time:
Zhaire Smith: "I eat sleep, and dream basketball."
So, how'd he cope when he couldn't play?
“I went to the gym. Tube in my stomach and all, I was doing jump shooting.”
— Noah Levick (@NoahLevick) March 5, 2019
This is unheralded dedication. If you’re getting paid to pay the game you love, there are very few excuses for you not to be on the court a stomach tune is one of them.
I seriously wonder how many guys in the NBA would get shots up with a stomach tube in. Everyone in the league is insanely talented but how many TRULY “eat, sleep and breath” basketball? For instance, I thought I was dedicated because one night I put shots up at the hoop in front of my house in the middle of the night. My neighbor yelled at me and I also couldn’t see so that was the end of that. Didn’t have the dedication Zhaire possesses.
It’ll be interesting to see if Smith plays any significant minutes for the Sixers this season and carves out a role. He’s in a similar sticky situation as Markelle Fultz last year; healthy enough to play but so deep into the regular season it’s hard to build chemistry with the existing rotations. Smith’s saving grace will be that the backcourt options off the bench have been so lackluster he still may get s chance. Brett Brown probably won’t mind throwing him in there and disrupting rotations if it means he finally gets valuable minutes from a wing player.
An injured rookie playing a large part in the fate of the Sixers season, wouldn’t want it any other way.