Former Denver Nuggets J.R. Smith, who is currently dominating the hardwood in China,for the Zhejiang Golden Bulls, has more issues involving his sister, Stephanie Smith. The shooting guard’s sister was reportedly involved in another altercation involving Chinese fans during one of J.R.’s games.
As J.R.’s team faced off against the Tianjin Ronggang Golden Lions, fans were allegedly heckling the New Jersey native as he shot free throws. Along with the heckling, Thunderstix were reportedly thrown onto the court, which led to J.R.’s girlfriend getting into a shoving match with Tianjin fans, while J’R’s sister showed them which player she thought was “Number One,” twice.
Stephanie took to Twitter to defend herself, and attempted to clarify the situation. Even though she may not have caused the fight this time, she’s no stranger to conflict regarding Chinese onlookers. In a previous situation, after J.R. was fouled, his sister threw a bottle onto the court, then proceeded to choke a woman, and shove an 80 year old man. The game followed a 45 minute delay in J.R.’s team leaving the arena, as the opposing team, the Bayi Rockets (the Chinese team that fought the Georgetown Hoyas) demanded an apology, and held up the Rockets’ team bus.
J.R. has been itching to get back to the States, and back into the NBA. However, the stipulation with players signing to overseas contracts with Chinese teams was there’d be no “buy out” for players in case the NBA Lockout was resolved before the end of the Chinese season. It remains to be seen if this latest incident will be the last straw in Smith’s dismissal from the team or not. Smith’s sister Stephanie, or “Ton of Bricks,” as she’s known in China, could in fact be attempting to aid this process, but who knows. Hopefully J.R. can continue to ball out for his team, and possibly win a championship before returning to the states, where he’s rumored to be seeking a deal with the New York Knicks.
Continue on for pics of this most recent fight, as well as pics from the first, which Stephanie earned the nickname, “Ton of Bricks.”
