Former New York Knicks star J.R. Smith got into an altercation over the weekend in Los Angeles.
Former New York Knicks guard J.R. Smith was caught on video attacking a man who allegedly smashed a window in his truck near the protests in Los Angeles this weekend. A recording of the altercation was released by TMZ Sports.
The NBA star posted his own video to try to preempt the news, explaining what happened leading up to the attack. In an emotional recording, Smith says his truck was parked in a residential area – seemingly separate from where looting occurred over the weekend – and a man allegedly smashed a window in his truck, which set him off.
“I chased him down and whooped his ass,” Smith says in the video.
Los Angeles is one of several cities where mostly peaceful protests have turned violent in response to the death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer.
J.R. Smith said the incident stemmed from a broken window
Smith said the incident had nothing to do with race or hatred; it was purely motivated by his anger over the man breaking the window in his truck.
The 6-foot-6 guard can be seen in the video obtained by TMZ kicking someone several times before a few other men walk the basketball star away as the victim is seen running out of the video frame. One of the men who appears friendly with Smith asks the person recording the video to “respect his privacy, please.”
Smith played for the Knicks for parts of four seasons from 2012 until he was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2015, where he won an NBA championship playing alongside LeBron James. He remained in Cleveland until he was waived last summer following a contentious season with the team.
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