On the night of July 7, Joshua Smith had his sights on nothing but the 2018 PBA Commissioner’s Cup quarterfinals, as he and the TNT Katropa had assured themselves of a best-of-three series after defeating Rain or Shine.
Smith was upbeat that night. Not only because he had 25 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Texters, but TNT had earned enough momentum for the quarters, as they earned an impressive 100-85 win over the Elasto Painters.
But never did he expect that devastating news would come later in the night.
News broke out also on July 7 that former Sacramento Kings player Tyler Honeycutt had died. According to various reports, Honeycutt died of a self-inflicted gunshot after reportedly firing on police officers. He was 27.
Honeycutt is a good friend of Smith’s. They had played together in UCLA for two years.
Photo from PBA Images
“It’s been a tough couple of days for me,” admitted Smith on Monday evening, moments after TNT lost to San Miguel Beer, 110-121. “I got back from the Rain or Shine game, and I found out that my college teammate committed suicide.
“We’re real close, man,” the 26-year-old center added. “I played with him for two years. We always stayed in contact. He got family in Seattle, so every off-season, we’re always linking up – I just talked to him a few weeks ago.
“It sucks.”
Obviously, Smith can’t just fly back to the States to visit Honeycutt, as much as he would want to. So he, on Monday, paid tribute to him by writing words in his Nike LeBron 15s such as “UCLA BOYS,” paying homage to where they started.
“So I just wrote some words of encouragement,” Smith said. “He’s a good dude, but I’m still trying to figure out what all happened.
“All those words are for him.”
