JR Smith suing former Chinese team for $1 million

JR smith’s time in China during the NBA lockout consisted of some amazing individual performances and a lot of drama. Missing practices, family fighting with fans in the stands and his CBA team, the Zhejiang Chouzhou.

The team claims that JR missed almost every practice, failed to show up for team meetings and had a general lack of regard for the rules of the team and docked him approximately $1 million of his salary.

Smith is disputing the validity of these claims and has filed suit with FIBA for the $1,078,500 that he didn’t receive.

The Chinese team alleged it requested Smith’s sister Stephanie be sent home to the U.S., claiming she was “abusive’’ and “the root’’ of Smith missing virtually every practice because she had him take her shopping. (Stephanie reportedly choked a Chinese fan during a game).

The case will be ruled upon in the coming weeks by a FIBA arbitrator in Geneva, Switzerland.

The Chinese team, which claims in documents Smith “breached’’ his contract, has until Monday to answer Smith’s complaint. The contract states FIBA would rule on a dispute.

Interesting to note, outside of the incident when JR tweeted “urban model” Tahiry’s thonged cakes, JR was pretty tame with the Knicks. The Chinese team had the option to cut him and send him back to the US for missed practices and several of the other issues noted over the 5 or so months he was there but opted not to.