J.R Smith fined heavily by his Chinese team for missing practice games - NBA Update
Former Denver Nuggets shooting guard J.R Smith, who was one of the many players to pursue overseas opportunity during the NBA lockout, and joined the Chinese Basketball team league Zhejiang Golden Bulls, has been fined one third
of his salary, by the Bulls for missing the practice games.
According to the team, Smith was warned of consequences, however he still continued with his careless attitude and had to be penalized for it.
“This was the arrangement when he came to the team,” Zhejiang Chouzhou GM Zhao Bing said. “Every practice we let him know. If he expressed to us that he wasn’t going to come to practice, we’d tell him that in accordance with our
contract, we’re deducting money from your salary. And he’d always get back to us with, ‘Whatever. If you’re going to take it, then just take it”
Smith, who was stuck in China because of the strict rules of the Chinese Basketball League, could not make a comeback to NBA when the lockout ended. Relations between Smith and the Bulls had already been deteriorated after the
team accused him of faking a knee injury in November, however he still kept playing because of the contract. Just few days ago, he signed a contract with the New York Knicks after wrapping up his contract with the Bulls earlier this month.
He played his first game for the Knicks last Sunday, which turned out to be a successful one for him and the team as Knicks overpowered the reigning champions Dallas Mavericks.
Smith joined the Bulls on September 13th 2011 and during his five months stint, put up a few phenomenal performances to guide the team to important wins. His best performance came at the start of this month when he scored
60 points, after coming off the bench in Bulls scrimmage against the Qingdao DoubleStar. For his excellent display, he was also awarded the “foreign player of the week” accolade.
Unfortunately, even his superb performances could not help his team in reaching the playoffs of Chinese league.
26 years old Smith is a consistent performer and in his eight years career, has dished out few remarkable performances. He was acquired by the Knicks in order to add some experience and depth to the side. For now though, he pockets
seem to have had a deep cut.
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