J.R. Smith played in the NBA for 16 years and suited up for five NBA teams. He won two championships with LeBron James when they played together with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Los Angeles Lakers.
Smith has career averages of 12.4 points, 3.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.0 steal per game. He also won the Sixth Man of the Year award in 2013 after putting up 18.1 points on 42.2% shooting for the New York Knicks.
However, the 40-year-old Smith last played in the NBA in the 2019-20 season with the Lakers. He started attending college at North Carolina A&T in 2021 and even joined the men's golf team at the institution.
Ken Blaze-Imagn Images
Now, five years later, Smith is graduating from the university with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Liberal Studies-Applied Cultural Thought.
As fans congratulate Smith on his graduation, his college GPA naturally became a major talking point as well.
It's worth noting that in his first semester at North Carolina A&T, Smith earned a 4.0 GPA. The personal achievement made the former NBA guard emotional.
"I can't even describe the feeling ... especially when you don’t think you can do it," Smith said at the time. "You always hear about your disabilities."
Smith is set to officially graduate on Saturday. It remains to be seen what's next for his career, but his former teammates and fans have been fully supportive of him throughout his college journey.
In fact, after news of Smith's graduation emerged, James took to Instagram to congratulate his former teammate and friend.
"SOOOOO PROUD OF YOU," James wrote, while tagging Smith and sharing SLAM's post about his graduation.
