J.R. Smith returned to New York City to play against his former team, the Knicks, last week and helped the Cavaliers win 90-83. But it sounds like his trip back to the Big Apple got off to a really rocky start.
According to the New York Daily News, Smith has been accused of choking a teenager at around 4 a.m. last Friday morning outside of a pizza shop called Artichoke Basille’s Pizza in NYC. The teen, identified by the Daily News as a 19-year-old high school student named Justin Brown, reportedly asked Smith to take a photo with him and his friends but was turned down. He responded by yelling, “That’s why New York kicked you out, yo!” and, according to Brown, Smith didn’t take too kindly to what he said and pushed him up against a wall before putting his hands around Brown’s neck and choking him.
Brown went to police several days later to file a report against Smith. At this time, a lawyer for Smith has called the allegations “completely false,” but police are investigating the incident. Stay tuned for further information.
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[via New York Daily News]
