Larry Brown Sports

JR Smith has played an important role for the New York Knicks this season, averaging more than 15 points per game and giving the team a dangerous perimeter shooter. He has been one of the best sixth men in the league, but that does not mean New York’s coaching staff is overly thrilled with him.

On Wednesday night, Smith was ejected in the third quarter of a blowout loss to the Indiana Pacers. He drew a double technical foul after a dust-up with Lance Stephenson in the first half and was tossed in the second half after being called for an offensive foul and using a hand gesture to show his disapproval. Knicks head coach Mike Woodson was not pleased after the game.

“I’m not happy about how we played and how we carried ourselves professionally on the basketball court,” Woodson told reporters, via the NY Post. “We can’t do that. I’m not going to tolerate that. I’m just not.”

Smith also got into a somewhat heated exchange with Knicks assistant coach Herb Williams during a timeout in the first half. According to the Post, the anger between the two appeared to carry over into the locker room after the game:

As Smith talked to a media scrum, Williams walked over and ordered Smith to take his headphones off while he was addressing reporters. Smith’s headphones were draped around his head. Smith took them off and Williams shook his head in disgust as he walked away.

Smith may be playing particularly well this season (he dropped 26 points in a win over the Toronto Raptors just before the All-Star break), but as we know he has an incredibly unique personality. He said his improved play has been the result of toning down the partying, but it sounds like JR is also in need of an attitude adjustment if he wants to continue to have the respect of his coaching staff.

Photo credit: Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE

JR Smith is quite the ladies’ man. The New York Knicks guard has had dalliances with the likes of musicians Rihanna and K. Michelle. He has dated the large-bottomed ex-girlfriend of rapper Joe Budden, and this heavily-tattooed model.

Smith is in high demand when it comes to the ladies, so excuse him if he just gets right to the point when he senses a woman is interested in him.

Take for instance this direct message exchange he had with a girl over Twitter. According to Deadspin, this exchange took place last month before the Knicks visited the Philadelphia 76ers. The girl involved is apparently a senior in high school.

Oof. Not the smoothest line out there, huh? Smith was just oozing with the charm of Rex Manning in the lunch room.

Of course, after Deadspin published the story, Smith seemed to respond via Instagram:

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JR Smith’s shooting is generally considered to be a strength in his game, but it was the source of embarrassment on Monday.

Smith shot 5-for-15 from the field and went 1-of-2 at the free throw line in the New York Knicks’ 99-85 win over the Detroit Pistons. A career 74.5 percent shooter from the line, Smith had 16 points which is right on his season average, but he airballed a free throw during the second quarter.

Smith’s free throw actually hit nothing but the bottom of the net. The only problem is it did not go through the actual cylinder first.

After his miss, Smith gazed at teammate Amar’e Stoudemire in disbelief before shrugging it off with some laughs. Tyson Chandler and Carmelo Anthony could help themselves and busted out laughing on the bench. They could afford to — the Knicks had a huge lead at that point and won the game pretty easily.

Chest bump to SB Nation

Kris Humphries tried boasting following his team’s win over the Knicks on Monday, but JR Smith put him in place.

Humphries, who had 11 points and 13 rebounds in the Brooklyn Nets’ 88-85 win at Madison Square Garden, bragged on Twitter about his team quieting the home crowd.

“Big game tonight! The Garden got really quiet on the way out!” he wrote.

Knicks guard JR Smith didn’t like what he read, so he hit Humphries back with a Kanye West taunt.

Wasnt quiet when Kanye tore it down last month! RT @krishumphries: Big game tonight!The Garden got really quiet on the way out!#Brooklyn

— JR Smith (@TheRealJRSmith) January 22, 2013

Kanye of course is the new boyfriend of Humphries’ ex, Kim Kardashian. Kris and Kim are still technically married, though they have been separated since Kardashian filed for divorce in Oct. 2011, 72 days after they were married.

Kanye performed at the Hurricane Sandy benefit concert at MSG last month, leading to the well-timed tweet from Smith.

Smith has gotten himself into trouble over Twitter in the past, but he’ll only get laughs from this one. Well played JR, well played.

Photo credit: Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE

Knicks guard J.R. Smith helped New York top the Phoenix Suns 99-97 by hitting an improbable buzzer-beating shot to win the game on Wednesday. The winning shot was Smith’s second of the month, and what made it even more special — aside from the difficulty of it — was that Smith also hit a jumper on the previous possession that tied the game:

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New York Knicks guard J.R. Smith and Memphis Grizzlies guard Jerryd Bayless got into a bit of a skirmish during the second quarter of the Grizzlies’ win over the Knicks on Friday night. While the two were battling for position on the perimeter, Smith threw a pretty blatant elbow toward Bayless’ upper body. Bayless was understandably upset, so he reacted by shoving Smith before teammates and coaches stepped in to separate the two.

After the game, Smith pleaded ignorance to the entire thing.

“I dunno what he could’ve been mad at,” Smith said according to Chris Herring of the Wall Street Journal. “Some small guys got little man complex. Maybe he’s gotta work that out.”

Smith has a whopping three inches on Bayless if their stats are accurate, so I don’t know if that’s the best insult to go with. It was no Metta World Peach knockout blow, but J.R. clearly intended to hit Bayless with the elbow. When you do something like that you have to expect retaliation.

J.R. Smith is off to a scorching start with the New York Knicks this season, averaging 18.2 points per game and converting more than 70% of his shots from three-point range. The three-point percentage will obviously fall at some point, but Smith’s scoring average is notable as it is almost a full six points higher than his career mark of 12.6 points per game.

The Knicks have only played five games, but their sharp-shooter has looked like a new man. On Wednesday, Smith admitted that his improvement on the court has to do with focusing more off of it.

“I’m not going to lie,” Smith told Marc Berman of the NY Post. “The New York City nightlife pretty much got to me (last season). I was going out pretty much every other night and not focused on the task at hand.”

New York head coach Mike Woodson says he has noticed a change in Smith. Woodson said the eight-year veteran has taken his advice by acting more professionally and doing things like wearing suits to games instead of baggy jeans.

“My thing is, being professional 24 hours a day – 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” Smith said. “I can’t let myself slip as well as my teammates slip. In order for me to hold them accountable, I have to hold myself accountable. I go out here and there. I definitely have to choose my spots. Definitely not before games. I’ve been smart about it.”

Not going out before games is a great career choice. Now if Smith could stop writing ridiculously dumb things on his Twitter account, the Knicks would really be in business. J.R. said he expects a championship and nothing less for New York this season. While there is still a long way to go before anyone starts thinking about that, he would certainly give the Knicks a major boost if he keeps playing at an incredibly high level.

Chest bump to Pro Basketball Talk
Photo credit: Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE