LACING INTO J.R.
Smith fined 50G for shoe hijinks; Woodson: ‘He’s got to grow up’
Sunday, J.R. Smith reached down to untie an opponent’s sneaker. Tuesday, he reached again. Now, he’ll reach into his pocket to pay the NBA.
MIKE WOODSON laced into J.R. Smith after the NBA slapped the volatile guard with a $50,000 fine on Wednesday for “recurring instances of unsportsmanlike conduct” for twice attempting to untie the sneakers of an opponent in the Knicks’ last two games.
NBA President of Basketball Operations Rod Thorn, who issued the fine, was in attendance at Tuesday’s game against the Pistons and warned Smith after he had untied the shoelace of Mavericks forward Shawn Marion during a free-throw attempt Sunday night in Dallas. Smith was caught “attempting to repeat the action” Tuesday night against Detroit, the league’s statement said, although he failed to untie the shoelace of Pistons forward Greg Monroe during another free-throw in the Knicks’ 89-85 victory.
“I don’t know what (the recourse) is going to be at this point, but it’s got to stop,” Woodson said Wednesday on 98.7 ESPN Radio after the fine was announced. “I don’t condone things that I know you shouldn’t do. No, I’m not happy about this. Because again, he was warned, he comes back and he makes the same mistake, and it’s not right. I just got the information, I’m going to address it (Thursday) when he comes in here for work, because it’s unacceptable. It really is.
“It’s unprofessional. That’s the only word I can use. Or two words. You just can’t do that. You just cannot do it.”
One published report suggested the Knicks have begun gauging trade interest in Smith around the league, but his contract and history of transgressions likely will make him difficult to move. Smith, who signed a three-year contract extension worth $18 million before undergoing knee surgery over the summer, tweeted at 5:40 p.m. on Wednesday: “Huge apologies to my team, to the league (and) most of all you the fans! #JRSmithSigningOff.”
This latest fine makes it a total of $105,000 the oft-reprimanded guard has forked over since joining the Knicks in 2012, not including a one-game suspension in the playoffs last spring for elbowing Boston’s Jason Terry or a five-game ban to start this season for violating the NBA’s drug policy. Earlier this season, Smith had been fined $25,000 for “hostile and inappropriate” tweets directed at Pistons guard Brandon Jennings, who had made cracks on Twitter about Smith’s younger brother, Chris Smith, who since has been released by the Knicks. In 2012, Smith also was fined $25,000 for posting an inappropriate picture of a woman on his Twitter account. And he was fined another $5,000 for flopping in Game 1 of the 2013 playoffs against Indiana.
“There’s no question, he’s done a lot of things this year that put him in a bad position and our team in a bad position. Somehow, we’ve got to clean that up,” Woodson sa id. “T his is unaccept able. . . . I keep saying this every time something pops up, but it’s got to stop.”
The NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year last season, when he averaged more than 18 points per game off the bench, is down to 11.3 points per game through 29 games this season, while connecting on just 34.8% from the floor. He also exasperated Knicks fans last week when he fired a three-point shot with the shot clock turned off in a tie game in the closing seconds of an event ua l t wo -poi nt loss i n Houston, and then admitting after the game that he didn’t know the score when he took the shot.
“If you look at what happened last year, everybody played a role on that team and J.R. was a big piece of the puzzle,” Woodson said. “Yeah, it can come from Carmelo (Anthony), it can come from his teammates, it can come from his coaching staff, it can come from me being there, it can come from the GM, the owner. At the end of the day, he’s got to grow up. And how come it can’t come from J.R. Smith? That’s kind of how I look at it.”