J.R. Smith: Let me explain what betrayal actually means

Many New York Knicks’ fans were overjoyed to hear that Jeremy Tyler rightfully replaced Chris Smith on the current roster, but there was one person that wasn’t. Of course that would be Chris Smith’s caretaker, J.R. Smith. Shortly after the Knicks announced that Chris Smith was waived in order to make room for Tyler, JR took to twitter to post this subliminal response:

Knick fans reacted with appropriate ridicule and hysterical responses to his message, and here’s mine by the way:

But there actually is nothing funny about this. It’s really quite pathetic. The fact that JR has the temerity to play the role of victim is the latest immature act in a season full of petulant and erratic behavior from one of the league’s most disappointing players. JR, I hope you are reading this because while you may feel betrayed by the Knicks, I want to take some time out to actually explain what really accounts for betrayal.

1)  Betrayal is not coming out to play when your teammates, fans, and city needed you the most.

Of course I’m talking about last year’s epic playoff implosion. You remember that right? Maybe you don’t because it might literally be all a haze to you, but after you won the Sixth Man of Year Award, you acted as if you achieved your only goal all year. Headlines, and even Rihanna, detailed your excessive partying on the eve of playoff games, and your performance was deplorable. You knew it was our best shot at having a deep playoff run, but you showed no effort or accountability in making fans proud during our first post season run that we’ve seen in years.

2) Betrayal is waiting to sign a $18M contract before having knee surgery.

After your appalling play in the postseason, the Knicks still supported you enough to nearly sign you to a four year $24M deal. The only reason you signed for three was so that you can opt for free agency and get an ever bigger deal. How did you show your appreciation to a team that’s supported you despite all your transgressions? You get a knee surgery that should have been done earlier, but didn’t because it would hurt your value. By the way, this was nearly a year after you were quoted as saying Jeremy Lin’s supposed contract offer would disrupt the Knicks locker room.

3) Betrayal is getting suspended for being so cavalier about smoking weed.

You already signed your contract, and you already knew you were going to be out for 3-4 months. We all know you are living the dream life but you still couldn’t have the presence of mind to at least not post a selfie of you and your spliff on Instagram. Do you have any idea who else follows you besides thousands of young fans that look up to you? David Stern does, and I’m glad you were the only fool in the league to get suspended over a picture. We all know you aren’t the only player that likes to light up when the season isn’t in session, but you were the only idiot that got caught and cost the Knicks a handful of games when you were needed.

4) Betrayal is playing like crap all season long after being rewarded with a nice contract

Last year, despite your playoff regression, was undoubtedly a good one. You turned in the best one of your nine year career and finished with an impressive 18.1 ppg, 5.3 rebs, and 2.7 assists per game off the bench. Of course the minutes you played was anything but off the bench minutes, you certainly proved that you can be upper tier player when given the chance. This year however, and all your numbers have dropped significantly and you are currently on pace to become the first player in NBA history to shoot less than 36 percent from the field and average 32 minutes per game. Your .351 FG% is atrocious and your 10.7 PER has never been lower. Hell, there was one game when you even shot an unsightly 17 three pointers. Let me repeat that. You shot 17 three pointers! And you only made five of them. What’s even worse about all this is that after the game you took to Twitter to say it with glee that you’d do it all again! If you did that in NBA 2K, someone would smack the controller out of your hand, and if you did that in a High School basketball game, the coach would probably kick you off the team.