J.R. Smith was not in attendance at the Gary Forbes Foundation Strike Out Diabetes Celebrity Softball Tournament in Brooklyn today. But his brother Chris Smith was, and when he was asked about his brother's five-game suspension for violating the league's anti-drug policy, he told the New York Daily News:
"I mean it is what it is. Stuff happens. It’s a little setback, but it’s not the worst thing going on in sports.”
Here's more from around the NBA on a slow September Saturday night less than a month before training camps open in October…
- During Mary Schmitt Boyer's mailbag for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, a reader asks her about the Cavs' big man Tyler Zeller. Boyer thinks that Andrew Bynum will start this season at center - if he's healthy – with Zeller as a dependable back-up.
- Boyer also discusses the status of Daniel Gibson, who is still an unclaimed free agent, and she mentions the Sixers' interest in the off-guard.
- Boyer also discusses Dion Waiters' poor shot selection. She says it improved as his rookie season wore on, but he appeared to have regressed during summer league.
- As mentioned previously, Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun says that Magic 6'9" power forward Andrew Nicholson was one of the only players to impress during Canada's loss to the Dominican Republic tonight in the FIBA Americas qualifying tournament.