J.R. Smith knows better than most what it feels like to finish in second place to the Golden State Warriors.
The former NBA guard played for the Cleveland Cavaliers when they reached the NBA Finals in four straight seasons from 2015-18. They played Golden State all four times, and a back-and-forth rivalry seemed to be brewing when they split the first two NBA Finals matchups.
And then Kevin Durant joined the Warriors, and they won the 2017 and 2018 titles by taking home eight of the combined nine games against Cleveland.
"When that happened, everybody was pretty much playing for second," Smith said of Durant's decision during a discussion with Michael Scotto on the HoopsHype podcast.