J.R. Smith fined $50,000 for trying shoelace untying trick again

Knicks guard J.R. Smith was fined $50,000 by the NBA for recurring instances of unsportsmanlike conduct. Smith was warned by the league after untying the shoelace of Mavericks forward Shawn Marion during a free-throw attempt in a January 5 game. he repeated the same action against Pistons center Greg Monroe in last night’s game.

Pay per head services know that Smith, the reigning Sixth Man of the Year, is averaging 11.3 points in 29 games this season.

People will argue that $50,000 isn’t much to Smith, who is making $5,565,000 this season according to ShamSports.com (literally only 0.9 percent of his yearly salary), but what matters here is the message that the NBA is sending. This type of behavior can’t be tolerated by the league and it’s quite likely that the penalty for this conduct will increase if this becomes more of a recurring issue than it already is.