NEW YORK — Knicks shooting guard J.R. Smith on Wednesday denied a report that he was fined over $1 million for missing practices with his Chinese team Zhejiang Chouzhou.
“Not to my knowledge,” Smith said with a laugh before the Knicks faced the Atlanta Hawks at MSG.
Asked if the amount was anywhere near $1 million, Smith said, “No, not even close.”
According to a report published by NetEase, Smith had $1.06 million deducted from his salary over the course of the season for missing practices. Most came during the preseason.
“This was the arrangement when he came to the team,” said Zhao Bing, the general manager for Zhejiang Chouzhou. “Every practice we let him know. If he expressed to us that he wasn’t going to come to practice, we’d tell him that in accordance with our contract, we’re deducting money from your salary. And he’d always get back to us with, ‘Whatever. If you’re going to take it, then just take it.’”
Smith signed with the Knicks last Friday for the mini mid-level exception of $2.5 million.
He is still learning the offense and adjusting to playing with point guard Jeremy Lin.
“It’s not so challenging here because the offense that we play and the type of style that we play is just get up and down the court and pretty much let your talent do the talking,” he said.
