J.R. Smith admits he's still not happy with the New York Knicks recent decision to waive his brother, but insists he now considers the incident "over with."
The Knicks formally released Chris Smith just before the new year to make room to sign big man Jeremy Tyler.
On Thursday, J.R. told the New York Post he and his brother were called into a meeting by the team a day before in which team president Steve Mills broke the news to the two of them. "I wasn't happy, but I couldn't do nothing about it," J.R. Smith added.
From the very beginning the team's decision to make the younger Smith part of the roster fueled controversy. Some openly branded it as nepotism and part of a favor agreed to by the Knicks to keep J.R. Smith and his CAA representatives happy while they were wooing the reigning Sixth Man of the Year Award winner during his summer of free agency.
The Post reports based on the way the contract was structured, Chris Smith already has collected $491,000 in guaranteed money. Most NBA minimum contracts don't become guaranteed until Jan. 10.
In the aftermath of the news becoming public, J.R. Smith took to Instagram where he tweeted "you know the sad thing about betrayal? It never comes from an enemy."
This week, the elder Smith tried to walk it all back. "I'm not worried about Instagram," he told The Post before the Knicks faced San Antonio. "I got to play the Spurs tonight and that's my main focus. I'm not worried about it now. It's my brother's problem now. I'm over it. I'm fine with everybody. I have no problems with nobody."
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