Jim Ingraham: If LeBron James can forgive J.R. Smith, maybe Cavs fans should, too

Let's see, in the pantheon of famous celebrity breakups, the top of the rankings would probably go something like this: Bill Belichick and Tom Brady, Prince Charles and Princess Diana, and LeBron James and Earl Smith III. Brady never forgot the score late in one of the Patriots' playoff games, Princess Diana always knew the score in her royal games and Earl Smith III was better known as J.R. Smith — and for good reason. The J stands for "J-know what you just did?" and the R for "Rip our hearts out, why don't ya?" Now comes word that Smith might sign with the Los Angeles Lakers, whose best player happens to be the biggest skeleton in J.R.'s walk-in closet. That these two might reunite in La La Land strikes a nerve back here in what became, on the night of May 31, 2018, Egads Land. It was the end-of-the-game blunder of all blunders by the always fun-loving, unpredictable, pardon-me-while-I-take-off-my-shirt court jester, Earl Smith III. For The Land, the wound is still open. It may never close. Even now, more than two years later, the civic aching endures over the night J.R. did his J.R. Thing. The details remain as gory as gory gets. If you care about Cleveland sports you already know them, don't care to remember them, but will never forget them. Game 1 of the NBA Finals, at Golden State, when with 4.7 seconds left in a tie game, Earl Smith III rebounded a missed foul shot, didn't know the score, and inexplicably dribbled out the clock. On You Tube you can still watch the uncut video of the Cavs bench when Earl and his shell-shocked teammates returned to the bench prior to the start of overtime. For the entire 2½ minutes, no Cavs teammate says a word to Smith. LeBron, sitting one seat away, totally ignores him. At one point LeBron looks down, holding his head. J.R. stares blankly into space as the magnitude of his blunder sinks in. Emotionally devastated, the Cavs, predictably, got blown out in the overtime. Had they stolen that Game 1 on the road, who knows what would have come next? Perhaps a chance to win the Finals for the second time in three years. Given the unprecedented nature of the blunder, J.R. not knowing the score, coupled with LeBron's Herculean effort in that game (51 points, eight rebounds, eight assists), I've always felt that was the tipping point for LeBron's decision to leave Cleveland a second time, which he did. The look of horror he gave Smith, after J.R. dribbled out the clock in regulation said it all. "After I play one of the greatest Finals games ever, my team is going to lose because of that?" was written all over LeBron's face. Thanks to that kick-to-the-gut loss in Game 1, the Cavs, not surprisingly, got swept in the Finals, and LeBron left for L.A after the season. Smith tried to hang around with the Cavs for one more season, but 11 games into what would become a 63-loss debacle in 2018-19, the Cavs basically asked Smith to leave, in effect paying him NOT to play for the team. There could not have been a more bitter breakup for all three parties: LeBron, J.R., and the Cavs. Now, however, there is talk of a reunion involving two of the three. Cleveland is not invited. That LeBron is apparently willing to let J.R. not just back in the league, but back on his team, a team that, naturally, since LeBron is on it, has a chance to win a championship, seems to those of us who are not global icons, the height of forgiveness. On the other hand, an argument could be made that J.R.'s end-of-game brain cramp didn't lose that game any more than did multiple missed calls, all of them going against the Cavs, by the officials in the last minute of regulation. Had any of them gone the other way, the Cavs could have won. But they didn't, the Cavs lost, and the rest is misery. In that glorious Game 7 in 2016, Smith hit some huge shots early in the second half. But his reputation as a loose cannon preceded his arrival in Cleveland, which was only facilitated by LeBron assuring the Cavs' front office that he would handle J.R. For most of Cleveland's J.R. Era, LeBron did. Then, in the waning moments of that woeful ending of Game 1 of the 2018 Finals, Earl Smith III dribbled into infamy by dribbling the Cavs out of the Finals. But it's hard to hold a grudge against an otherwise feel-good entertainer like J.R. He was never afraid to take big shots, he made more than his share of difficult shots, he was a better defender than most good shooters, and nobody enjoyed a parade more. LeBron is apparently willing to let bygones be bygones. So should we. Contact Jim Ingraham at jingraham4@gmail.com and follow him @Jim_Ingraham on Twitter.