New York Knicks guard J.R. Smith was fined $50,000 for untying the shoelaces of opponents last season. It was a comical thing, and it went down as just another notch in a long line of Smith foils.
While it was funny, Smith did receive some pushback after the fine. In typical fashion, he couldn't care less about criticisms of his professionalism. Smith just doesn't want to pay the fines, he told Bleacher Report.
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B/R: What do you think is the biggest misconception about you?
JRS: People think I’m just some wild child, that I’m just somebody that bugs out all the time and doesn’t care. That’s the main thing that pisses me off the most. People who actually take the time to come [to my golf tournament] and get to know me, they know what I’m about. But some people don’t really care to come.
B/R: Do you think that stems from your occasional antics, like when you got fined last season for untying your opponents’ shoelaces?
JRS: I do care about the fines because it’s loss of money, but other than that, I like to have fun. I would do [the shoelace thing] again if there wasn’t a fine. But now that I’m in my 10th year in the NBA, I take the game more seriously than I did my first five, six years.
For Smith's sake, let's hope the Knicks outperform expectations, because it makes it a lot harder to accept his approach when New York is losing. But, if they play like we expect, the only fun coming out of the Knicks will be Smith's antics.