Detroit Pistons forward Josh Smith was benched for the second time this season during the team's 106-82 loss to the Washington Wizards on Saturday night, and the fiery star was not at all happy with his reduced role in the team particularly for coach Maurice Cheek's criticism of him not playing hard.
"Like I told y'all before when we had this conversation, when you hit adverse times, characters are gonna be tested," Smith told MLive.com. "It's either that we're gonna come closer together and make it all one team, or are you gonna use a scapegoat to get away from what's really at hand?"
The Pistons, with a 14-18 record, are slowly sliding with their fourth loss in five games.
Smith said he won't seek his coach's explanation behind his benching. "To me, it's over with," Smith said. "But you know, some people hold grudges longer than others. I don't know. I don't know. I'm not saying that he (Cheeks) does. I don't know."
"But I'm not the type of person that really likes to go all the time in the coach's office and have one-on-one sitdowns. I'm more of a team morale guy, worrying about what we can do, as far as teammates are concerned, to make ourselves more successful."
He also said he felt slighted by Cheeks' suggestions that he should play harder on the court.
"It's an honor for me to play, you know what I'm saying? So when anybody challenges -- or anything about the fact that, you know, about me not wanting to play -- then I take real offense to it," Smith said.
When asked why he didn't field in Smith, Cheeks had a simple reply: "I just felt I wanted to make a change and stayed with the guys I went with."
Smith is the Piston's highest-paid player after he signed a four-year contract worth $54 million last summer. Still, his coach is unperturbed with Smith's complaints.
"My job is to try to win games," Cheeks said. "That's it. That's my job. I just try to do the best I can. I can't get into free agent here, free agent there. I can't get into that. My job is to try to win games and that's what I'm trying to do."
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