J.R. Smith announces daughter born five months early

J.R. Smith and his wife took to Twitter to announce the birth of their daughter five months early.

In October, J.R. Smith was riding high. He had just married his wife Jewel in August, signed a long-term extension with the Cleveland Cavaliers for $57 million, and announced the exciting news that he and his wife were expecting a daughter. On Saturday afternoon, Smith and his wife took to Twitter to announce some much more difficult news.

The Smiths revealed that baby Dakota was born five days ago, five months premature.

“We decided to share with the world what’s been going on with our family the past five days,” Jewel Smith said. “We know a lot of you guys congratulated us on the expectancy of our little baby girl, but we had her five months early. She’s five days old today and her name is Dakota and she weighs one pound.”

As they deal with their personal family struggles, J.R. and Jewel hope to serve as an inspiration for other families dealing with their own babies’ premature arrivals. The couple has two other daughters, Demi and Peyton.

Smith has not played since late December after breaking the thumb on his shooting hand, and will be out until at least the end of March or early April. He remains one of the most interesting personalities in the NBA, but has made tremendous strides growing up off the court since joining the Cavaliers.

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Please keep the Smith family in your prayers as they battle alongside little Dakota. The family and their new daughter still face an uphill battle, and it may be weeks or months before she can leave the hospital. If you would like to make a donation to support premature babies, the March of Dimes has been raising money to help families and babies for over 75 years.