J. R. Smith took his LD to college
What is the story about the basketball player's graduation?l
Jason Jones published an article on The Athletic 10 May 2026 entitled, “J. R. Smith won NBA titles. He’s now a college graduate with a different message.” Mr. Jones reported about Mr. Smith completing a bachelor’s degree at age 40, despite his earlier struggles with ADHD and learning disabilities.
After playing basketball successfully at the highest level and earning tens of millions of dollars, Mr. Smith—Earl Joseph Smith, III—enrolled in college at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. He surely wasn’t the typical undergraduate, but he took courses, got tutors, and even played on the school’s golf team. And, he received a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies. According to Mr. Jones’s article, he graduated “with a 4.0 grade-point average.”1
Mr. Smith candidly discussed his social and academic difficulties with Jemele Hill in a YouTube interview, “NBA Star J.R. Smith on Naivigating Life with a Learning Disability” that appeared 20 July 2023.
Mr. Smith’s story was a central feature in a television documentary series called “Redefined: J.R. Smith” (IMDB). According to the Wikipedia entry about the series, the four episodes aired in April 2023; most of the episodes appear to focus on his golf play. NCAT’s publicity office posted a story about the TV series in April 2023.
Footnote
One can see Mr. Smith “walk the stage” in a video of the NCAT graduation ceremony available on YouTube. He is announced at about the 1:36 mark in the video (I hope I have the link here set to go to that time mark), and the people in attendance applaud for nearly a minute in recognition of him.