HOUSTON — With the release of the NBA’s 2023-24 regular season schedule, second-year Rockets forward Jabari Smith Jr. will immediately have a chance to display the rigorous work he put in this offseason during two opening games versus the last two No. 1 overall draft picks: Paolo Banchero (2022) of the Orlando Magic, and Victor Wembanyama (2023) of the San Antonio Spurs.
Yet, Smith does not see any personal matchups on the schedule that he is circling. His main goal is improving on Houston’s 2022-23 season, in which they finished with a dismal record of 22-60.
“We lost so many games last year that I feel like you have to circle everybody,” Smith said during the team’s recent back-to-school event for students at the Sunnyside Community Center.
“I feel like we lost to every team in the league,” Smith said during Saturday morning’s event. “We lost a lot of games, so everybody is circled. We have stuff to prove after going 22-60. We are just going into every game with the same mindset, like we have something to prove. It is not just one game, we look forward to all of them.”
After what Smith considered a “learning” rookie season, in which he averaged 12.8 points and 7.2 rebounds per game, the 2022 NBA All-Rookie Second Team selection is looking to build on the momentum he enjoyed over his last 20 games. During that stretch, Smith shot 47.2% overall and 36.5% on 3-pointers.
This offseason, Smith has trained with the likes of future Hall of Famer Kevin Durant — now with the Phoenix Suns — and Smith is hopeful that it will help his personal growth. On paper, the lanky forwards have some physical similarities between a clear height advantage and a skillset to quickly shoot over smaller opponents.
“I would say KD [Kevin Durant],” Smith said when asked who helped him improve the most. “It has been mutual things with other people, but that was my first time actually talking to him, having a conversation, working out with him, and just being around him.”
Smith played briefly this summer in the 2023 NBA summer league and blew away fans, players, and media members with two brilliant performances, including a game-winning 3-point basket with 0.6 seconds left to defeat the Portland Trail Blazers in early July.
“We lost so many games last year I feel like we have to circle everybody,” said Houston Rockets forward Jabari Smith Jr. when I asked him about the NBA schedule. #Rockets #Sarge @TheRocketsWire pic.twitter.com/jzBgdUhiI5
— #SARGE (@BigSargeSportz) August 20, 2023
The former 2021-22 SEC Freshman of the Year then followed up that performance with 38 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists in a victory over the Detroit Pistons, which was Smith’s final summer league game before new head coach Ime Udoka shut him down.
“I was really open to playing because I felt like it would be a good opportunity for me to show what I have worked on,” Smith said Saturday. “Just play in a different scenario, a different role, and just have fun. Tari [Eason] said he was going to play with me, so that was cool. When they told me I was done, I figured it was going to happen, but me and Tari said we wanted to play every game, win the championship, and start the culture and change it around a little bit.”
With Rockets training camp set to begin in early October, Smith and his teammates are aiming to continue developing their games as they approach the start of the 2023-24 regular season.
In Jabari Smith’s latest run, he was the primary defender on Kevin Durant.
It’s Kevin Durant in open runs, so of course KD gave Jabari buckets.
But you love to see the will and desire to guard a player of KD’s caliber by Jabari. He’s going to be a special defender as he grows. pic.twitter.com/erfIcR3vzP
— ᵂᴵᴸᴸ (@BiasedHouston) August 18, 2023
