J.R. Smith has accomplished nearly everything a basketball player could hope to achieve. He spent 16 seasons in the NBA, won two championships, played alongside some of the biggest names in the sport, and built a reputation as one of the league’s most fearless scorers. Yet one of the achievements he seems proudest of arrived far from the court.

On May 9, Smith graduated from North Carolina A&T State University, earning a degree in Liberal Studies with a concentration in Applied Cultural Thought. For the 40-year-old former NBA star, the moment represented the ability to overcome a challenge he once believed might be beyond his reach.

Smith’s path to graduation was anything but conventional, because after entering the NBA directly out of high school in 2004, college wasn’t a part of the plan. Years later, following retirement from basketball, he enrolled at the Greensboro-based HBCU and joined the school’s golf team, becoming one of the most recognizable student-athletes in the country. His decision began with a conversation during a vacation in the Dominican Republic.

“Probably the golf trip with Ray Allen,” Smith told ESSENCE. “I was in the DR doing this trip and I saw Ray running back-and-forth to his computer and I asked him what he was doing, and that kind of tipped the whole thing.”

Returning to the classroom required Smith to confront challenges that had followed him since childhood. Diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia at a young age, academics was a tall order. While he made a career out of hitting difficult shots in packed arenas, college often demanded something different. “To me being a student again,” Smith said when asked what was harder than playing professional basketball. “Being in the NBA and playing in the NBA was something I was born to do and for me academics was something that didn’t come easy to me.”

Over the course of five years, Smith committed himself fully to the experience of college. He worked with tutors multiple times each week, spent long nights completing assignments, and gradually became more comfortable in an environment he once resisted. “For me, it just gives me the opportunity to continuously get better,” he said. “As I got older, I actually wanted to do it more opposed to fighting against it when I was younger.”

Despite the championships, accolades, and financial success, Smith explains that there was one major factor that motivated him to graduate. “My main thing was keeping my promise to my mother,” he said. As news of his graduation spread, congratulations poured in from former teammates including LeBron James, Dwight Howard, and Richard Jefferson. Many celebrated the accomplishment as a reminder that growth does not end when a professional career does. Smith hopes others see something similar in his journey.

“To me just to inspire,” he said. “Inspire [people] to do something outside the box that they wouldn’t normally think of or normally do or something that they’re not good at and take your personal development as seriously as they could.”Smith’s story also serves as a powerful example of what HBCUs continue to provide: opportunity, community, and a place where people can reinvent themselves at any stage of life. “It’s never too late,” he said. “I don’t think it’s ever too late to go.”

A Forsyth County woman has filed an ethics complaint against North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey, alleging that the official sent her what she called inappropriate text messages for years while she worked in the Department of Insurance. 

Causey, meanwhile, says he would welcome an investigation into the allegations, telling WRAL News in an interview this week: “The truth will come out.”

Former regulatory analyst April Taylor filed the complaint last week with the State Ethics Commission. The DOI said Wednesday it has received a copy of the complaint.

Taylor is alleging sexual harassment. She also claims Causey campaigned on state time and misused a state vehicle.  

Taylor alleged last month that Causey sent her a series of inappropriate text messages during her nine years at the department. She made the allegations in an article published by The News & Observer. 

On Wednesday, Taylor shared images of the text messages with WRAL. She characterized her relationship with Causey as “friendly,” citing family ties dating back before she worked there. But the messages reflect a more complicated dynamic. 

“Just don’t let me catch you in the room alone,” reads one message. 

“I might jump your bones. Watch out!!!” reads another. 

The messages made her uncomfortable, she told WRAL News, adding: “At the time, I didn’t know how to respond.” 

Taylor told state investigators that she has many more text messages and screenshots to prove Causey was campaigning on state time while at a department office in Archdale. She also said Causey used a state vehicle for personal use, including to attend her great-aunt’s wedding in 2025. 

“Although Causey and I had a friendship,” Taylor said in her filing, “he crossed the line many times, leaving me feeling uncomfortable and violated.”

She said she first attempted to raise the concerns 

–  unrelated to the text messages 

– about Causey to the Office of the State Auditor, related to his official capacity as the state’s Insurance Commissioner. She alleged that the auditor’s office expressed little interest in investigating. A spokesperson for State Auditor Dave Boliek challenged her narrative, saying her complaint “draws incorrect conclusions.” 

In her complaint, Taylor said: “I am willing to take a polygraph exam and testify before legislatures. Evidence will be furnished upon request.”

In her role as an analyst at the department, Taylor’s job led to frequent communication with Causey. 

Taylor, who resides between Greensboro and Winston-Salem, allowed WRAL to read through text messages exchanged with Causey over the years. 

Much of the communication observed appeared friendly or work-related. But Taylor says some texts went too far – particularly those that commented on her appearance.

WRAL asked Causey about Taylor’s allegations. He declined to comment, saying it was a personnel matter. He added that he was open to an investigation into the initial allegations. 

“We want to make sure everything is clear and transparent,” Causey said, “because we certainly have nothing to hide to the public, to the lawmakers, or to any of my fellow elected officials.”

Causey acknowledged to the N&O that he sent work-related texts to Taylor. But he told the newspaper that he didn’t recall sending comments related to her appearance. Taylor disputes that. 

“Throughout the years, I thought they were inappropriate,” Taylor said. “I felt uncomfortable. I responded with laughing emojis because I didn’t know how to respond. What am I supposed to do, respond with mad faces? He may look at it as a form of rejection.”

Taylor said she was in an appointed position. “He could have let me go for any reason,” she said. 

Asked why she didn’t push back against the messages, Taylor said: “I just didn’t want to make the situation uncomfortable. Just wanted to laugh it off.”  

Several messages sent by Taylor to Causey were flattering in nature, including heart and smiling emojis, as well as references to Causey as a “handsome” man. “I felt the laughing emoji was my way of trying to shut it down,” she said. 

A spokesperson for the department declined to comment on the allegations.

“Commissioner Causey and NCDOI will fully comply with any requests by the N.C. State Ethics Commission regarding this or any other matter,” Barry Smith a DOI spokesman, said in a statement.

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — The North Carolina Arboretum will host a bonanza of bonsai this week with “Bonsai in the Blue Ridge,” a limited-time exhibition of more than 50 living sculptures as part of the American Bonsai Society’s Learning Seminar 2026.

Between June 4-7, arboretum visitors can explore the exhibits for a $5 admission fee, along with the arboretum’s regular parking fee. A press release from the arboretum said there will also be opportunities to register for seminars, workshops and tours led by bonsai artists for an additional cost.

GROWING YOUR GARDEN? PLENTY OF PLANTS FOR PURCHASE AT THE ARBORETUM’S SPRING SALE

“The American Bonsai Society brings together people who share a passion for bonsai. Through world-class publications and events such as the Learning Seminars, ABS promotes and educates, sharing techniques that showcase North American artistic expression and encouraging the use of plant species that grow well in the United States, Canada, and Mexico,” ABS Convention Chair Scott Barboza said in a written statement.

Bonsai is the ancient art of shaping trees over time to create miniature living sculptures. The North Carolina Arboretum is no stranger to the art, having established the Bonsai Exhibition Garden in 2005, which showcases up to 50 specimens of traditional Asian bonsai subjects, tropical plants, American species and plants native to the Blue Ridge region.

IKEBANA INTERNATIONAL ASHEVILLE STAGES FLORAL DESIGN EXHIBITION AT NC ARBORETUM

“Bonsai in the Blue Ridge” takes place 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, June 4, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday, June 5 and 6, and 9 a.m. to noon Sunday, June 7.

See a full schedule of events for this week’s seminar at americanbonsaisociety.org.