Speaking to the media for the first time since his suspension for "detrimental conduct," Cavaliers guard J.R. Smith tacitly confirmed Saturday that he did throw a bowl of soup at assistant coach Damon Jones but opted against provided further details about the incident.
Multiple reports suggested Smith was suddenly suspended prior to Thursday night's loss to the Philadelphia 76ers for throwing the bowl of soup. When asked how much he could say about what happened, a somber-looking Smith (wearing an Arthur hat) simply replied, "Nothing."
The confirmation of the incident came when Smith said he "[didn't] even remember" what type of soup he threw. The 13-year NBA veteran would not comment as to what built up to the throw and added he has not talked to Jones since the outburst, although he has brought it up with his teammates.
"Everybody seems cool," Smith said. "We moved on from it as a team. Whether is warranted a suspension or nor, that's not my job. I'm just here to play basketball."
He did, however, admit some of the social media reaction to the incident was "pretty funny," and that it could help provide perspective for some of the younger players on the team.
Smith will be back in the starting lineup Saturday night when the Cavs take on the Denver Nuggets at Quicken Loans Area, according to head coach Ty Lue. J.R. says he is looking forward to returning to the court, but denied he as anything to prove.
"My state of 'proving myself' to whoever is pretty much over for me," he said. "I'm just trying to get better for my teammates and try to play Cavs basketball the way we've been playing."
J.R. added he is looking forward to seeing former teammate Richard Jefferson, who signed with Denver after being traded by Cleveland in the offseason.
"I know he's going to have a lot of jokes," he said. "We've gone back and forth with him and Channing [Frye] in our group chat, so it's going to be interesting."
