New York Knicks: J.R. Smith Suspension Reason To Worry?

The defending Sixth Man of the Year will have to wait to start defending his title. The J.R. Smith suspension was officially announced by the NBA for five games due to his violation of the league’s anti-drug program. What does it mean for the New York Knicks and will it even matter in the long run?

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports reported that “Smith tested positive for marijuana, a source with direct knowledge of the result told Yahoo Sports.”

Regardless of how one feels about the use of marijuana, it’s against the collective bargaining agreement that the players union agreed to. Instead of following the rules, Smith put himself, his team and his family at risk.

Sure, losing five games of salary isn’t a big deal when you’re slated to make $18 million over the next three years. However, it’s about more than his current contract. It’s about his value and the trust put into him by the club.

How can the Knicks count on him if they have to worry about his indiscretions possibly resulting in another suspension? Didn’t we just see this with Michael Beasley? It’s not as if Smith has never been in trouble. Remember this?

Yep, that’s our guy throwing Nate Robinson (or getting thrown, depending on your perspective) into the stands before throwing some haymakers. To be fair, Smith was hammered on the play. But, instead of letting cooler heads prevail, he flew off the hinge and ended up getting suspended for 10 games. Faced with big pressure, he made the wrong choice.

This tweet could mean any number of things, but I feel like it’s relevant here:

The thing is, it doesn’t have to be that way. He won’t be damned if he consistently makes the right choice.

Smith is coming off the best regular season of his career. He averaged 18.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.3 steals in his 80 games off the bench. Did you realize that Smith was No. 16 in the NBA in total points in 2012-13?

But, as has been the case with Smith over the years, when the Knicks needed him the most, he disappeared. Let’s look at his last two years in the playoffs. We don’t need to explain this, just let those shooting percentages sink in a bit.

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 9/7/2013.

There’s no debating that Smith is a terrific spark off the bench for the Knicks. Losing him in any game is a blow to their roster. But five games? Really? That’s not even a slap on the wrist, that’s like timeout in your room where all your video games are.

I hope we don’t look back to this suspension and say we should have known it could get worse. Beasley just showed us what “giving up” marijuana looks like. Is Smith the next Beasley?

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