Earlier this week, Smith validated several years of criticism from stodgy dweebs by theorizing that New York’s nightlife had indeed detracted from his game. “I think this is the best situation for me,” he mused in an interview with the NBA’s David Aldridge. “There’s nothing, there’s no going out, there’s no late nights. There’s video games, basketball and basketball.” Yes, endless evenings of Mario Kart: Super Circuit sound much better than kicking it with Rihanna and cruising the meatpacking district in a Gurkha F5 military vehicle that resembles a giant metal armadillo. At any rate, the revelation had to make the Knicks’ brass wonder if stashing J.R. in an isolation tank in the bowels of Madison Square Garden might have pumped up his (negative) trade value.

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