J.R. loved New York, hated

J.R. SMITH, now playing for the hottest team in the NBA playoffs, said joining the Knicks was “the greatest decision I’ve ever made.”

But he doesn’t understand why Phil Jackson traded him away more than a year ago. And he wasn’t happy.

“I was (ticked), honestly. First of all, it’s not my fault we’re in this situation,” Smith said in a video interview with VICE Sports.

“We were in the locker room. We were about to play in Memphis . . . . The GM (Steve Mills) was on the phone, said, ‘Yeah, we just traded you to Cleveland.’ I’m like, ‘Are you serious?’ I told (Iman) Shumpert, ‘We’re outta here.’ He was like, ‘What?’ We came off a 50-plus win year (in 2012-13), we were second in the East. We had an unbelievable team with unbelievable chemistry and then they break everything down to rebuild what?”

Smith and Shumpert were dealt to the Cavaliers in January of 2015 in a three-team deal that brought Lance Thomas, Lou Amundson and a 2019 secondround pick to the Knicks. It turned into a lopsided deal at the Knicks’ expense, with Smith and Shumpert — deemed counterproductive by Jackson — turning into integral pieces of Cleveland’s run to the Finals.

Afterward, Jackson said in an interview that Smith had been “exhibiting some delinquent behavior” by showing up late or missing team meetings. He added that Derek Fisher was concerned Smith’s “negative energy was contagious.”

Still, Smith was most upset “because I couldn’t play with my best friend anymore.”

“(Carmelo Anthony) is probably my all-time favorite person that I’ve been around consistently over the course of X-amount of years,” Smith said.

Smith is averaging 12.3 points on 48% shooting — including