$50K FINE FOR J.R. SMITH WHO WAS WARNED ABOUT SHOELACE STUNT BUT DOES IT AGAIN

J.R. SMITH

Maybe J.R. Smith will try giving an opponent a hot foot next or using Whoopee Cushions.

One day after warning the Knicks guard about his unsportsmanlike conduct for untying an opponent’s shoelace at the foul line, the NBA slammed Smith with a $50,000 fine on Wednesday for his repeat attempt at the silly prank.

And then Knicks coach Mike Woodson blistered Smith during his weekly radio spot, demanding Smith “grow up” and stop the nonsense.

“I don’t condone things that I know you shouldn’t do. No, I’m not happy about this. Because he was warned, he comes back and he makes the same mistake, and it’s not right,” Woodson said on ESPN radio. “I’m going to address it [Thursday] when he comes in here for work, because it’s unacceptable. It really is. It’s unprofessional. …You just cannot do it.”

The fine, another in a long list of penalties levied on the shooting guard by the league, was doled out “for recurring instances of unsportsmanlike conduct,” according to a release from Rod Thorn, NBA President, Basketball Operations.

The latest misstep by the NBA’s reigning Sixth Man of the Year Award winner came Tuesday in the first half of the Knicks’ 89-85 win over the Pistons when he reached for the shoelaces of Detroit’s Greg Monroe, who stepped away to avoid the attempted prank. Whether Smith was joking with his reach was not clear.

What was clear was the disgust of Woodson and the league.

“There’s no question he’s done a lot of things this year that has put him in a bad position and our team in a bad position,” Woodson said. “Somehow, we’ve got to clean that up. He was a big major part of what we did last season. There’s no doubt about that. We need him to be that J.R.

“This is unacceptable. It’s just got to stop. I keep saying this every time something pops up, but it’s got to stop.”

That episode came two days after Smith untied Shawn Marion’s shoelace in the Knicks’ 92-80 win in Dallas during a free-throw attempt. That prank, caught by Dallas TV, resulted in a warning from the league.

“After Smith was warned by the league office to refrain from further conduct of this nature, he attempted to repeat the action,” Thorn said in the statement.
Maybe he should go with knock-knock jokes because all of his other nonsense has not worked. Cue the history lesson music.

Two seasons ago, Smith was fined $25,000 for posting an inappropriate picture of a woman’s backside on his Twitter account. He lost another $25,000 earlier this season for a Twitter war with Detroit’s Brandon Jennings, who had questioned the validity of Smith’s younger brother Chris making the Knicks roster. That fine came for “directing hostile and inappropriate language.” And Smith became the season with a five-game suspension – without pay – for violating the league’s anti-drug policy.

Like a late-night TV commercial, “Wait, there’s more…”

During last season’s playoffs, Smith was fined $5,000 for flopping against the Pacers in the second round after he was suspended one game of the first round for elbowing Boston’s Jason Terry.

Going back to his time with the Nuggets, Smith was banned 10 games in 2006 for his part in an on-court brawl with the Knicks at the Garden. The Nuggets suspended him three games in 2007 for his role in a Denver nightclub incident, and he was whacked seven games in 2009 after pleading guilty to a reckless driving rap.

Woodson, who did not know of the league action when he addressed the local media at the Knicks practice facility Wednesday morning, sounded exasperated on the radio. He said teammates, himself, management can try to change the guard, but ultimately, Smith must change.

“At the end of the day, he’s got to grow up,” Woodson said. “And how come it can’t come from J.R. Smith? After a while, these things have got to stop. It’s just got to stop.”