Ahead of his trip to Madison Square Garden to face the Knicks on Monday, LeBron James took aim at Phil Jackson and the front office of the franchise for not drafting Dennis Smith Jr.
"The Knicks passed on a really good one, and Dallas got the diamond in the rough. He should be a Knick,” James told reporters. “It’s gonna make some headlines, but he should be a Knick. He's an unbelievable talent, athleticism, he's very poised to be is age. [He] can shoot the ball, can penetrate and he's only going to get better and better with the opportunity.”
Smith is a frontrunner for Rookie of the Year after he was chosen by the Dallas Mavericks one spot after the Knicks drafted Ntilikina. Smith Jr. is averaging 19 points, 4.6 rebounds and 4.4 assists in November. Despite the loss to Cavs on Saturday, Smith dropped 21 points with seven assists, which promoted LeBron to comment on the Knicks' decision not to draft Smith. This isn't the first time LeBron has spoken out against an action of Phil Jackson's back in Nov. of 2016; he called out the basketball legend for calling his business associates his "posse" while handling Carmelo Anthony and trading J.R. Smith to Cleveland.
Knicks center Enes Kanter fired back at LeBron on Twitter Saturday night, saying, “Nope!! We love what we got. Thanks!!!”
