While we might’ve found J.R Smith’s shoelace fiasco funny, the Knicks and coach Mike Woodson weren’t so amused. Woodson benched Smith during the Knicks entire win against the Miami Heat. Smith was also fined $50,000 by the league. On Saturday night he returned to the Knicks lineup and looked like a changed man.
So what did he learn?
“Don’t goof around, I guess. Be serious. Be a professional. And just don’t take this opportunity here you have for granted,” he said. “There’s a lot of people in this world that want our jobs. You can’t take it for granted. It can be taken away just that fast.”
Smith finished with 14 points on 5/8 shooting, 3 rebounds and six assists in the Knicks 102-92 win over the Philadelphia 76ers.
His teammate and longtime friend Carmelo Anthony also noticed the change and his effort.
“I thought he was a real pro tonight, man, despite everything that’s going on,” Anthony said. “For him to bounce back the way he did today and obviously put that stuff behind him and move forward, that was big-time for him as a person.”
“This is a situation that really opened his eyes up, he looked himself in the mirror and hopefully he wants to change, he’s got to change,” Anthony said. “It’s up to him now.”
“I just wanted to be aggressive, attack, get back to my old self, play with a chip on my shoulder,” Smith said. “And it worked.”
