The 2018 NBA Finals was the last time LeBron James and Stephen Curry went head-to-head in a finals series. But that Cavaliers and Warriors matchup will always be remembered for the 2-time champion JR Smith’s historic blunder in the closing seconds of Game 1 of that series. LeBron James’ on-court reaction to JR’s massive blunder in Game 1 continues to be one of the most popular memes on social media.

That moment is so iconic that JR is constantly asked about his thoughts during the play, and over the years, fans have heard multiple versions of his perspective on the blunder. NBA Reddit was lately quick to dig up the archives and compile all the versions of his story.

JR Smith’s versions of the 2018 Finals blunder

With 4.7 seconds left on the clock and the game tied at 107-107, JR had a chance to become a hero for Cleveland by hitting the game-winner after grabbing a rebound over KD. Instead, he decided to dribble the ball out running in the opposite direction, leaving LeBron James and the fans baffled. JR talked about his blunder in the post-game interview of Game 1, and his script has changed several times since then.

J.R Smith constantly changing the story as to why he ran away with the ball during his blunder in game 1 of the 2018 NBA Finals
by u/Low-Cheesecake-4372 in nba

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In the post-game interview, JR said that they had a time-out left, and after grabbing the rebound, he was trying to get enough space to get a shot off. “I looked at Bron, and it looked like he was trying to call a time-out, so I just stopped. And game was over,” he added.

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In 2019, JR was a guest on All The Smoke podcast and addressed the same question with a new response, saying that he thought they were leading the game by one and decided to dribble the ball out as the Cavs did not call a time-out. Later in 2020, he appeared on The Pat McAfee Show and Cold as Balls, saying he does not get caught up in looking at the clock and the score during the game. He also addressed the topic on the I Am Athlete podcast in 2022, where he said that he did not attempt the game-winner because KD could have blocked the shot.

JR Smith’s blunder ruined LeBron’s historic finals performance

Smith’s mistake overshadowed LeBron’s historic run to the finals in 2018 as he had an MVP caliber season that year. In Game 1, ‘King James’ ended up with an astounding stat line of 51 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists. But his valiant effort went in vain as the Cavaliers were never able to recover after the Game 1 loss and were swept by the Warriors in 4 games.

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LeBron averaged an absurd 34 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 10 assists in the 2018 finals. Who knows what the NBA would look like today if JR Smith did not make that Game 1 blunder and Cavaliers clinched the first game against the Warriors on the road to take a 1-0 lead in the 2018 finals.