President Obama tells JR Smith to put a shirt on
The man has gone 72 hours without a shirt
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.After going shirtless for several days after winning the NBA title, Cleveland Cavaliers guard JR Smith has been told to put on a shirt by his most important critic yet—President Barack Obama.
The avid Chicago Bulls fan recently called Cavaliers Head Coach Tyron Lue to congratulate him on his team's historic NBA Finals win over the Golden State Warriors. More importantly, President Obama also told Coach Lue to make sure Smith puts on a damn shirt.
He added that Smith, who's now been shirtless for 72 hours, influenced several of his teammates, Kyrie Irving and Iman Shumpert, to go shirtless after they became the first team in NBA history to erase a 3-1 deficit in the NBA Finals and claim the league championship. “Tell JR and everybody to put on a shirt,” President Obama told Coach Lue over the phone. "You can't just be walking around without a shirt for like a whole week. Now Shumpert is taking off his shirt, Kyrie is taking off his shirt. Come on, man.”
The Warriors, who broke President Obama's Bulls' single season record for wins this season, received incredible shade from the nation's 44th president earlier this year.
At the record-breaking gathering to celebrate the championship, each player did appear with and without shirts through the daylong festivities.
Shortly after Game 7, Smith gave his father his shirt and “haven't put one on again since,” he told the crowd on Wednesday.
Watch the phone call between Coach Lue and President Obama in the clip above.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments