JR Smith admits to waiting until after free agency to have knee surgery

JR Smith had surgery in July after he signed a four-year-deal with the Knicks for $25 million. Some fans were upset that JR waited until July to have a surgery that would cause him to miss the start of the season and wondered why the Knicks would commit to him for that amount of time with his health in question. During Monday’s media day, Smith confirmed that he was waiting until his free agent status was completed before he took care of his health issues.

“For one, I’m a father and I have two young children to look after,” Smith said Monday. “It made more sense for my family to get a deal done before [surgery].”

The surgery, a patellar tendon repair and an arthroscopy for a tear in the lateral meniscus of his left knee, is expected to sideline him through training camp.

“Without a doubt, the best part about it was we had the support of the team,” Smith said. “The team supported us, the [team doctor] supported us all on the decision. At the end of the day it was more of a family decision than anything else.”

The Knicks maintain they knew all along that JR needed the procedure. I have no issue with this. Athletes only have so many chips to negotiate with.