After an initial struggle with the NCAA earlier this year, former NBA star JR Smith was allowed to play golf for the North Carolina A&T Aggies. His Cavaliers teammate, LeBron James, shared how proud he was in the second chapter of JR's sports life.

LeBron James Praises JR Smith For Collegiate Golf Debut

According to The SportsRush, the decision of JR Smith to play golf in college was noticed by his former teammate and NBA star LeBron James. The King shared on his social media how amazing JR was and said he was so proud of Swish's achievement.

Smith traveled with the rest of his new team to the Elon Phoenix Invitational at Alamance Country Club in Burlington, North Carolina, where he played his first round of 18 holes on Monday morning, The Spun reported.

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JR Smith Unlocks New Chapter in Sports Life

The 36-year-old ex-NBA player looked rather sharp through the first few holes, but his succeeding round did not exactly go according to his game plan.

Despite Smith's debut not being the best, he still has a lot of time to get things right, and a lot of people backed him up.

As a former NBA champion, fans and fellow basketball players were impressed by his mere presence at the tournament. A lot of people were cheering for JR, and sent him best wishes for his new journey. Aside from LeBron James, on-court rival, Stephen Curry also showed his support via a tweet.

Recently, the 36-year-old former NBA icon played his first tournament for the North Carolina A&T team. Smith was beyond excited about the new adventure and expressed the same through his social media.

JR Smith played a total of 17 seasons in the NBA. During that time, he won 2x NBA Championships. Also, Smith, who was known for his athleticism and shooting, was awarded the 6th Man of the Year honors once.

Out of those 17 seasons in the league, Smith played 5 with LeBron James. During that time, both players became really close to each other.

Meanwhile, LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers were not having the best preseason so far. The star-studded team, which were expected to have a successful start, have gone 0-4 prior to the start of the season.

The purple and gold squad seemed out of sync, but The King was not worried about the slow start by the Lakers. LeBron said it was just the preseason, and they were still adjusting as they were a newly assembled team.

He added that what actually matters is how they would show up in the season opener against the Warriors on October 19 and how they would go on from there to get another title and add an extra banner in the rafters in Staples.

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Written by: Jess Smith

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