J.R. Smith Made More Sense Than You'd Expect When Telling Athletes Who Are Criticizing Colin Kaepernick To Shut Up

I've been a professional athlete since '04 an I've never understood speaking down on another person/athlete to the media.

— JR Smith (@TheRealJRSmith) August 25, 2017

We all might not see eye to eye but we are all in the same boat. For one if that person you talking about isn't present you should say shit.

— JR Smith (@TheRealJRSmith) August 25, 2017

Talking about or around people not now nor ever been was cool.But that's just me.If you got something to say about me tell me not the media.

— JR Smith (@TheRealJRSmith) August 25, 2017

We (athletes) have all seen people with not as much talent but they still have jobs.

— JR Smith (@TheRealJRSmith) August 25, 2017

A persons situation is their situation. Who gives you the right to speak on "their situation" idk if they asked you! You don't have to speak

— JR Smith (@TheRealJRSmith) August 25, 2017

On it. Speak on your talent an your teams talent to go out an win. Don't ask me about another man/woman in their situation.

— JR Smith (@TheRealJRSmith) August 25, 2017

At the end of the day we know what's going on. An if you not going to keep it □than keep ya mouth closed period.

— JR Smith (@TheRealJRSmith) August 25, 2017

“We don’t need to drag each other down.” — @TheRealJRSmith with □ on athletes who are speaking out against @Kaepernick7, others. pic.twitter.com/B1c9VqRzne

— UNINTERRUPTED (@uninterrupted) August 25, 2017

​Dare I say that tweet storm seemed rather...Shady?

LeSean McCoy on Kaepernick: I think his situation is not good enough to have him on the team with all the attention that comes along with it pic.twitter.com/HrvfgeNsBP

— Joe Buscaglia (@JoeBuscaglia) August 24, 2017

Quite literally, the last thing I want to talk about - for the umpteenth time - is what's keeping Colin Kaepernick out of a job in the NFL. Luckily, this shockingly coherent message from someone who is better known for reaching out to offer "the pipe" wasn't about the actual factors behind the most discussed unemployed athlete in sports history. I can't believe I am actually going to say this about the thoughts of J.R. Smith, but that string of tweets was just a more articulate way of reiterating a lesson that we all learned growing up: if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. 

Like, take the fact that they are both football players - whose only affiliation is that they (used to) share a profession - out of the equation. What sense does it make for LeSean McCoy to undermine the qualifications of someone who lost his livelihood - at least in part - on behalf of the rights of people who look like LeSean McCoy? Colin Kaepernick could literally be the African American equivalent of Blake Bortles, and criticizing his talent level would still be a self inflicted blow to a cause that should probably be considered worthy by the guy who apparently hates "followers" but has no problem repeating the "company line".  

Think about it this way. This would be like a cancer patient walking up to someone who was fundraising for cancer research outside of a grocery store, slapping the tomato can of loose change out of their hand, and screaming "stop distracting the bargain shoppers!". Is their a "better" platform for those that have taken Colin Kaepernick's lead? Well, millions upon millions of people watch the NFL so I would argue that LeSean McCoy really meant to use the phrase "more comfortable", but that's not even the point. The point is that whether or not you like a person of their form of protest, it's stupid to demean them publicly when their efforts only stand to benefit you.

Props to J.R. Smith, of all people, for realizing that, and putting a little unforeseen perspective to this media-driven circus that apparently thought it was a good idea to give noted idiot, LeSean McCoy, a clown nose and a stage to speak on.