Cleveland Cavs guard JR Smith has been accused of choking a 19-year-old New York City high school student in the Chelsea neighborhood. The alleged incident took place on November 13th in the late night/early morning before the Cavs took on the New York Knicks.
Police sources told the New York Daily News that Smith was accused of confronting the teenager, Justin Brown, after Brown razzed Smith for being traded to the Cavs by the Knicks last season. The reported incident occurred at around 4:00am EST outside of Artichoke's Basil Pizza near the popular NYC lounge 1 OAK.
Smith hasn't spoken to the police since the alleged incident, but did send out a tweet on Friday night telling his followers not to "believe everything you read." Smith's attorney, Alex Spiro, did address media questions on the incident, calling the allegations "absolutely false."
A police source indicated that Smith was reported to have "checked (the teen) against the exterior of the building and put his hands around Brown's neck." The Cavs are aware of the situation. They did not practice on Friday in advance of the team's home game against the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday.
"We are aware of the story and have spoken to J.R. about it," Cavs GM David Griffin said. "J.R.'s attorney has issued a statement on the matter and there will be no further comment from the team on this at this point."
A police report was not filed until three days after the alleged incident took place. Officers were present on the scene after the reported confrontation.
Back to the Cleveland Cavaliers Newsfeed