Former Los Angeles Lakers role player J.R. Smith was found Saturday in a storage facility at the Disney Bubble complex near Orlando, more than 3 months after the conclusion of 2019-2020 season, expecting there to be still one more round of playoffs.
"I thought we were celebratin' goin' to the finals, not winnin' them," a visibly thinned and camera-shy Smith told reporters for the Orlando Sentinel.
Smith, who signed with the Lakers during the NBA's spring pause, explained he was told by a hotel bartender after game 5, that the winner of the Lakers' series against the Miami Heat would then go on to play the winner of the Harlem Globetrotters/Washington Generals playoff matchup.
Smith said he spent a long night partying after the Lakers' game 6 win against the Heat on October 11, and passed out in the back of a lawn-care shed. "When I woke up and looked aroun', it was a ghost town outside, and I thought the boys were all just quarantinin' and bein' responsible. So I just made it like a hide-out, me versus the world."
Smith said he remained secluded there, resting and doing light cardio, preparing for a series that would never come.
When asked, Sunday, about his plans for the current NBA season, Smith said he was hoping to try out for the Raptors while visiting relatives in Toronto.
