The NBA suspended New York Knicks guard J.R. Smith for one game after he hit Washington Wizards guard Glen Rice Jr. in the groin Tuesday night. Given the remarks Knicks president Phil Jackson made about Smith's maturity, is Smith's tenure in the Big Apple coming to an end?
New season, same Smith. The league handed him a one-game suspension as result of Smith's seemingly intentional strike on Rice's groin during the Knicks' 98-83 loss to Washington on Tuesday. The hit came in the fourth quarter as Smith drove to the basket, although Rice was called with the foul.
Smith will serve the suspension Wednesday against the Detroit Pistons, according to ESPN.
The suspension is the latest instance in a long line of league-issued discipline for Smith. His history of discipline includes missing the first five games of last season for violating the league's drug policy, getting fined $25,000 for sending a "hostile" tweet to Brandon Jennings, fined $50,000 for untying an opponent's shoelaces, fined for tweeting an inappropriate picture of a woman and suspended one game in the 2013 playoffs for elbowing then-Boston Celtics guard Jason Terry in the head.
His latest incident could be the last straw for Jackson, who questioned during the offseason whether Smith could ever mature.
"I don't know if that's possible or not," Jackson told the New York Post in September when asked how he'd get Smith to grow up. "He might be one of those guys that's a little bit like Dennis Rodman that has an outlier kind of side to him. But I'm gonna get to know him as we go along, and we'll find a way to either make him a very useful player on our organization, or whatever."
Smith has been the subject of trade rumors, but his declining production since last season - not to mention his discipline problems and his $6.3 million player option for next year - is a likely deterrent for any team needing a swingman.
