A funny thing happened after the Cleveland Cavaliers lost Game 3 of the NBA Finals to the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday: J.R. Smith tweeted “Cavs in 7.”
Or rather, Smith’s Twitter account posted “Cavs in 7,” because he says he didn’t do it.
The tweet is since deleted, but here’s a screenshot courtesy of SI.com:
Smith, for his part, told reporters he didn’t send out the 10-character inspirational quote, per ESPN.com:
“I got out of the shower and my phone was buzzing. I did not tweet that,” Smith told Cleveland.com after his postgame locker room interview session.
“I’m smarter than that.”
The “I was hacked” excuse is getting old, but I’m inclined to believe him here. The Cavaliers are down 3-0. No team has ever come back from that deficit to win a best-of-seven series. Though he’s known for off-beat antics, Smith is most definitely smarter than this.
It also doesn’t seem like he’s that guy anymore. He’s grown up a lot since joining the Cavaliers and winning a title. He knows the backlash that’ll follow his team if it gets swept on Friday night in Cleveland.
Plus, this tweet came so immediately after Game 3 it almost can’t be real. The loss the Cavaliers suffered was heartbreaking. LeBron James talked afterward about how no one in the locker room had any words. Is this really the first thing Smith would have done, then? Nah. Either he was hacked, or he scheduled this tweet at the end of the third quarter, when it looked like the Cavaliers would prevail for the first time this series.
So there’s nothing to see here. We can all move on.
