After J.R. Smith was handed a five-game suspension for a violation of the NBA's anti-drug program, New York Knicks head coach Mike Woodson said it's time for Smith to grow up.
Woodson expressed the team's disappointment in Smith Wednesday following the announcement that he was banned for five games this season. Smith, who signed a three-year deal worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $18 million this past offseason with a player option for the third year, had knee surgery a week after signing the deal in July and is expected to miss training camp and the opener of the regular season.
Since it is expected that Smith will miss the beginning of the season anyway, the suspension won't kick in until he's deemed healthy and eligible to play.
Woodson mentioned that Smith needed to "grow up and do right things," expressing both disappointment and support.
"I'm not going to throw him out to pasture," Woodson said per ESPN. "My job is to coach him and make sure something like what happened doesn't happen again. That's what we do as coaches. I expect his teammates to show him some love."
While he was supportive, he was also upset with what has transpired.
"At the end of the day, he's got to do the right thing by J.R., and his teammates and me as a coach in this organization and the fans that support him. That's what it's all about."
It's unknown when Smith, 28, will be eligible to play, but he has to be cleared by a team doctor and an independent doctor from the league before he's deemed ready to return to the court, ESPN reports. Once he's deemed healthy enough to play, he won't be able to hit the hardwood until he serves the five-game ban for what he's done.
"You talk about missing the first five games, I'm not happy about it," Woodson said. "But hey, we know what we're facing and we've got to get through it and we've got to make sure that it's something that he understands that's something that can't happen again."
Smith displayed his understanding when he addressed the suspension publicly on Monday and apologized for his actions.
"I'm more disappointed because I let my teammates and my coaches down more than anything," Smith said via ESPN Monday. "I let [Knicks owner James] Dolan down."
ESPN reports that the NBA wouldn't reveal what the violation was, but a five-game ban is usually a first-time offense for smoking marijuana.
Smith averaged 18.1 points and 5.3 rebounds per game last season and helped lead the Knicks to a 54-28 finish and first place outcome in the Atlantic Division and No.2 seed overall in the Eastern Conference. While he was successful in the regular season, his play plummeted in the playoffs where he made just 33 percent of his field goal tries and his play fell-off following a one-game suspension in the first round for an elbow to the Boston Celtics' Jason Terry in Game 3 of the series.
The Knicks made it out of the first round before being eliminated in Round 2 by the Indiana Pacers in six games, and Smith sites his suspension as the reason why his play was hindered.
"I call it 'pissing the NBA gods off,'" Smith said Wednesday per ESPN. "You're making, making, making a lot of shots -- and you mess with the basketball game and the game gets you back. And it definitely got me back."
Smith better hope with is latest violation he didn't upset the NBA gods off enough to suffer any more setbacks in his game.
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