In a conversation with Rockets and Adidas sponsorship teammate Jalen Green, Houston rookie Jabari Smith Jr. showed appreciation to assistant coach John Lucas for his development this season.
It isn’t yet clear if Lucas, who was the lead assistant to former head coach Stephen Silas, will be part of Houston’s 2023-24 staff under new coach Ime Udoka. He is believed to be under consideration.
One reason for that consideration is the rapport that Lucas has clearly established with many of Houston’s young players. That includes Smith, who played some of his best basketball in the 2022-23 season’s final weeks after struggling some in its opening months.
As part of the interview, Smith told Green:
Luc [John Lucas] told me through all the struggles, and bad games… he was just telling me that nobody is perfect. I’m a hard critic of myself, and I’m really technical. A bad game will really stick with me. He was just telling me, “You’re not going to play good every game. Ain’t nobody perfect. You’ve just got to live with mistakes.”
He always reminds me that I’m 19 [years old]. He always reminds me to look at other people’s rookie seasons, and to stop putting so much pressure on myself. Being among the best for so long, you can get to a point where you don’t feel that way, and it can mess with you.
The complete conversation, which features Smith and Green talking back and forth to each other, can be viewed below.
Over his final 18 games of the 2022-23 season, Smith averaged 16.3 points and 8.2 rebounds per game while recording eight of his 16 double-doubles. That helped the No. 3 overall draft pick from the 2022 first round earn All-Rookie Second Team honors from the NBA.
