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Tag: J.R. Smith

  • Knicks’ J.R. Smith Back In For Saturday’s Win

    J.R. Smith, New York’s star shooting guard, finally saw some game-time Saturday in the Knicks’ win over Philadelphia, the first since he had been benched for both Thursday night’s entire game, and the first quarter of Saturday’s for “pretending to untie someone’s shoes.” The penalty was given out Wednesday, when New York met the Miami Heat.

    Smith’s New York coach, Mike Woodsen, publicly called his player out on a radio show early Thursday, deeming Smith “unprofessional,” and his actions Wednesday night “unacceptable.” Smith never apologized for the incident publicly, besides doing so via social media, but he apparently met with his coaches on Friday morning to discuss the situation for the first time, according to NorthJersey.com.

    Along with his 1.25-game suspension, Smith was targeted by his team’s officials as being a possible contender for a trading, and was also faced with league-imposed fines.

    Smith managed to redeem himself Saturday night against the Sixers, however, when he entered the game after sitting through the entire first quarter, something he says, is “the worst feeling in the world.” After Woodsen put Smith in, though, the guard scored his team 14 points and maneuvered six assists throughout the remaining three quarters.

    Asked any lessons he had learned from the experience, Smith says, “Be serious. Be professional.” J.R. Smith later elaborated that he should “not take his career for granted. but is “still trying to find” himself.

    Smith and the Knicks meet the Suns next, at 7:30 on Monday night at Madison Square Garden.

    Main image courtesy Kevin Allison/Flickr via Wikimedia Commons.

  • Did J.R. Smith Really Learn A Lesson After Being Benched?

    It’s no secret that New York Knicks’ shooting guard J.R. Smith has quite the reputation. The man has a list of run-ins with the law, in addition to a long lineage of suspensions, league fines, and backlash from the media due to his prolific antics.

    However, his latest suspension may have denoted a change toward a more positive direction. If his performance in Saturday night’s Knicks’ game was an indicator, it definitely proves that he’s making great strides in the right direction.

    Smith’s stellar performance put 14 points on the board, with six assists, which ultimately contributed to the Knicks’ 102-92 win over the Philadelphia 76ers. However, his statements to the press throughout the day may have blemished his performance on the court.

    According to CBS News, following the Knicks’ game last night, the 2013 ‘Sixth Man of the Year’ told media reporters what he’d learned from his recent experience of being benched. Unfortunately, his admission came with little sincerity.

    “Don’t goof around, I guess. Be serious. Be a professional. And just don’t take this opportunity here you have for granted,” he said. “There’s a lot of people in this world that want our jobs. You can’t take it for granted. It can be taken away just that fast.”

    Smith’s teammate, Carmelo Anthony also chimed in on his perspective of the incident. “I thought he was a real pro tonight, man, despite everything that’s going on,” said Anthony. “For him to bounce back the way he did today and obviously put that stuff behind him and move forward, that was big-time for him as a person.”

    “This is a situation that really opened his eyes up, he looked himself in the mirror and hopefully he wants to change, he’s got to change,” Anthony said. “It’s up to him now.”

    “It’s the worst feeling in the world,” Smith said in reference to being benched. Earlier this week it was also reported that Knicks’ head coach Mike Woodson expressed his frustrations toward Smith’s behavior. He referred to Smith as “unprofessional,” saying that he needed to “grow up.”

    On Saturday morning before the game, Smith was asked of his sentiments of Woodson’s remarks, he said, “He’s been telling me that since I got here,” Smith said Saturday morning. “Honestly, ‘growing up,’ I don’t know if I really understand the true meaning of it.”

    So, now the looming question is, “did J.R. Smith really learn a lesson after being benched?” If he doesn’t really understand Woodson’s frustration, then the answer is he did not! Hopefully, he makes the needed changes to move forward in a positive directions for the sake of his career.

    Image via Twitter | J.R. Smith

  • J.R. Smith: He’s Not the Only Knucklehead in the NBA

    Now that Knicks’ guard J.R. Smith has returned from suspension, after the whole shoelace scandal, we decided to list other NBA players who went the knucklehead route and got in trouble. And while Smith’s actions got him in a mess with the league and not the police, these other players weren’t so lucky.

    Charles Barkley– If you watch TNT’s “Inside the NBA,” then you already know that Charles Barkley loves to be extra critical of the players, especially the younger ones. Which is why some thought it was ironic that he was pulled over for drunk driving on his way to visit a prostitute. “I was going to drive around the corner and get [a sex act],” he said, when asked what he was doing at the moment. Maybe Barkley who obviously lives in a glass house should give up throwing stones once and for all.

    Carmelo Anthony– When Anthony was playing for the Denver Nuggets he was pulled over by police for drunk driving while in town for a home game. After failing a few sobriety tests, he was arrested and ultimately suspended for two games. Fortunately for Anthony, he avoided jail time and received probation instead.

    Kyle Lowry– Who says arguments between player and referee happen during serious competition, because Toronto Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry lost his cool during a charity game in Las Vegas. In a heated exchange, Lowry cursed-out the ref and through something at her, which scored him some community service and anger management classes.

    Jason Kidd– In July of 2012 the former basketball player, who’s now a coach for the Brooklyn Nets, crashed his car into a telephone poll after having one too many. As a result, he was arrested and suspended for two games. The arrest was somewhat out of character for Kidd, as he usually showed so much discipline on the court. But as those on this list have showed us, sometimes there’s an infinite sized divide between a player’s on-court actions and what he does off the court.

    Image via Facebook

  • J.R. Smith Helps Lead Knicks To Victory After Suspension

    Throughout his career, J.R. Smith has been known as one of the most problematic players in the league. His on and off-the-court incidents are catching up to him again, and most recently, he was fined $50,000 for attempting to untie the shoelaces of multiple opponents.

    After returning from his suspension, J.R. Smith had an excellent performance against the Philadelphia 76ers. The Knicks were down when Smith entered the game, and he eventually led them to a 102-92 victory. He is constantly criticized for what he does wrong, but Smith is a great scorer too.

    Punishing him may have worked this time as he returned to the court with authority, embarrassing the 76ers and outscoring them by 20 points when he was on the floor.

    Things were certainly not going to his way coming into this game since he averaged only 11.3 points per game while shooting 34.8 percent from the field.

    After the game concluded, J.R. Smith had 14 points, 3 rebounds and 6 assists during 27 minutes of action. He shot 5 of 8 from the field, and made 3 of 4 from beyond the arc.

    Before the game, there were talks of trading the scoring guard, and whether this performance is enough to silence those rumors is a mystery, but Smith is doing what he can to stick with his team.

    Speaking about the game, he said “I’m still trying to find myself, trying to find the right way to be a professional. It’s a short span we get to play this game and I can’t be selfish with it, got to think team first.”

    J.R. Smith also came out with a serious tone in this game and played as if he truly cared about basketball, leaving behind his goofy lightheartedness, and perhaps showing that he cares about being a member of the New York Knicks.

    The Knicks have been struggling all year, but after two wins in a row, their season may begin to turn around along with J.R. Smith’s attitude as a player. Next up, they play the Phoenix Suns at home.

    Image via Facebook

  • Twitter Photo Costs NBA Player $25,000

    J.R. Smith, New York Knicks guard definitely regrets posting a sexy photo of woman on his Twitter account Thursday. The semi-nude photograph caught the attention of a large number of his Twitter followers and eventually the National Basketball Association. By Saturday night, the league announced he would be fined $25,000 for posting the inappropriate photo.

    The twenty-six year old native of New Jersey hasn’t been getting much attention for his on court performance so far this year for New York but apologized on Friday night, telling reporters he regretted posting the photo on his Twitter account. Smith eventually deleted the post from his account and announced he wouldn’t be appealing the decision. The New York Knicks office declined to comment.

    Things are being taken to far sorry @therealtahiry 2 days ago via Echofon ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    #DAMNNNN Here’s the pic that @therealjrsmith posted of @therealtahiry He was fined 25K for it!! http://t.co/wzhdIL0M 55 minutes ago via Twitter for BlackBerry® ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    Smith told reporters, “I didn’t know it was going to be as big a deal as it is now. I definitely regret it. Anytime I do anything that takes away from our team, I’m definitely going to regret it. I can’t worry about the off-the-court stuff, our issue right now is on the basketball court.”

    Sorry for my last tweet @TheRealTahiry n @JoeBudden I see y’all will never be done so I’ll step aside an chalk this one up! #koldGame! 3 days ago via Echofon ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto