It isn’t exactly a secret that J.R. Smith has had problems off the court, but New York Knicks president Phil Jackson has decided to remove all doubt.
In the most recent edition of his Jackson chronicles, ESPN’s Charley Rosen — a former assistant coach under Jackson — spoke to the Zen Master about why Smith was traded. Rather than giving cliche answers like “we did what was best for our team at the time,” Jackson basically unloaded on Smith.
“J.R. had been exhibiting some delinquent behavior and had gotten into the habit of coming late to team meetings, or missing them altogether,” he explained. “Also, (Iman Shumpert) and Tim (Hardaway Jr.) were regressing, so I decided to meet with them separately and try to find out what, if anything, was bothering them.”
Jackson said that Smith, who is currently a free agent, was not doing what was expected of him on or off the court. He also revealed some information about Smith’s personal life.
“He was supposed to carry the scoring load for the second unit and he wasn’t doing the job,” Jackson added. “I also said that because of his unacceptable behavior, he had two strikes against him with this team. He didn’t really respond. He’s a very sensitive guy, with his big doe eyes. He looked like he was going to tear up. But he finally responded that he was going through some issues with his gal.”
Yikes.
We know that Smith did some dumb things like flirting on social media during games, but Jackson must really dislike him. Then again, Smith hasn’t exactly said nice things about the Knicks since he was traded.
Still, that seemed a bit cold on Jackson’s part. While Smith openly admits that he partied too much while he played in New York, no one was ripping Jackson for trading him. It’s not as if Phil needed to justify the move or defend himself in that manner.
