NEW YORK -- The NBA has suspended Denver's J.R. Smith and Phoenix's Jason Richardson after both were recently convicted of driving offenses. Smith will sit out the Nuggets' first seven games for pleading guilty to reckless driving in New Jersey. Richardson will miss two games after he pleaded guilty to drunken driving in Arizona. Both suspensions imposed Friday are without pay. The NBA said Smith's was also for his poor driving record. Smith was involved in an accident in 2007 that caused the death of a passenger in his car. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4429517
Another Nuggets was arrested recently... Any team Warkentien manages should wear orange unis or ones with black and white bars.
Smith kills someone then continues to drive drunk. Does this guy want to go to prison for a long time, or what? ... come to think of it, he might consider it "cool" to do so, he's so stupid.
What an absolute piece of scum he must be. Don't mind him wanting to go prison, the fact he is allowed to be still out there so he can drive and possibly kill another person is a worry.
This is a PR move in response to the NFL's strict punishment of Dante Stallworth. It's good that they're punishing these guys, but 2 games and 7 games is not enough.
It tells you what the NBA's priorities are: run into the stands, suspended for the whole season; have a fight where you throw one punch, get more than 10 games (Carmelo); drive drunk and kill your passenger, 7 games.
Reckless driving is what a DUI turns into when you agree to a guilty plea and the judge feels particularly sympathetic that week.
are you just making up the law as you go? NOWHERE does it say anything about JR Smith driving drunk. he was indicted for reckless driving for an auto accident in which his friend was ejected from his seat in a two way collision. neither were wearing seatbelts. Smith had a horrible driving record and had to serve time. he didn't get a lesser sentence and he was never under the suspicion of driving drunk in this incident.
That's precisely what ran through my mind as well. It's just such a small slap on the wrist though, might as well just fine them because the result is pretty much the same. But oooh, the word "suspension" gets their names in the papers.
Lol. This makes me laugh. 7 games and 2 games, must be a stiff punishment for NBA standards and without pay, watch out guys the NBA is making examples of players now.
He should be permanently banned from the NBA. Why do we hold these young, ignorant kids with money flowing out of their pockets to a different standard? The guy took someone's life as a result of running a stop sign. He also received 8 traffic citations in 7 days! 5 of which were for speeding. Since the reckless driving incident, he has received 2 more speeding tickets and 3 license suspensions in NJ. He has no regard for the law, and any other "professional" would be severely punished, most likely fired, by his/her employer for such behavior. It's a distraction, interferes with the business, and is down right unacceptable. The NBA proceeds to suspend him for 7 games... that's it!? I'm lost for words. Some one please explain...
I don't expect the NBA to perform the duty of the criminal justice system. That said, this suspension stands out compared to what Carmelo and Ron Artest got for their incidents. Either don't punish guys for off court mishaps or REALLY punish them. Then again I don't know if Stern has the power to that Roger Goddell has. I know the NBA players association is much stronger than the NFL players association, which is a joke.
"The commissioner's office has made it clear that it wants to set the highest standard of personal conduct for its athletes," Warkentien said in a news release. "We will support J.R. as he continues to deal with the tragic accident he was involved with two years ago and the consequences of his painful mistake." IS HE SERIOUS?
