When Chris Smith, the brother of J.R. Smith, made the New York Knicks roster a few days before the start of the season, there were whispers around the league that the move was made largely because of his family ties with J.R.
Politics, as some would call it.
Smith actually signed a contract with the Knicks last season, but was cut before the start of the season after suffering a knee injury. The 26-year-old guard has yet to see playing time this season and it will likely remain that way with so many guards ahead of him on the roster.
Regardless, Smith is on the team to stay. On Friday, he got on twitter and reacted after seeing a tweet from ESPN analyst Bill Simmons about the signing of the guard:
I love the hate lmao another critic to shut up… RT @BillSimmons: Chris Smith made the Knicks. The Dolan Era is incredible.
— Chris Smith (@TheOnlyCSmith0) November 2, 2013
People mad because I beat the Odds… Lol I love it … — Chris Smith (@TheOnlyCSmith0) November 2, 2013
Smith may be interested in knowing that Simmons wasn’t alone in the sentiment that the signing seemed fishy. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports was even more blunt about the situation:
Chris Smith made Knicks when his brother, J.R., signed his extension. That’s the business, but he should spare everyone how he “earned” it.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) October 25, 2013
All Smith can do at this point is find a way to get on the floor to prove the doubters wrong. Until then, there will remain plenty of skeptics.
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James Park is the chief blogger of Sheridan Hoops. You can find him on twitter @SheridanBlog.
Now it explains why the Knicks let their GM go before preseason …I did not know Jr Brother was playing because his brother signed an extension..Really the knicks needed JR Smith that bad lol unfortually what the knicks offered him other teams would a never match or give him….Thinkingggggggg another reason why the GM was let go for the knicks MT be the smartest/testacle fortitude thing Dolan has ever done..
According to Hoopsnerd.com, Chris as a senior with Louisville in ’11-12 was ranked 242nd nationally in HnI. He’s not a scub by any means – but seniors ranked outside the Top 200 in D1 very rarely ever play a minute in the NBA.
SO at the level of making an nba team he is a scrub.