During the Lockout, JR Smith signed a 1 year Contract with Zhejiang Golden Bulls of Chinese Basketball Association(CBA). He was awarded as the Player of the Week and Started for the CBA All-Star team during his stay.He Lead his team to a 15-17 record and was eliminated from playoff contention as of February 12.
Upon his return to America, New York Knicks signed him with their mini mid-level exception following his stint in China.fortunately, the team added a player option to his contract worth a paltry $2.5 million in 2013.
According to a report published by NetEase, Smith had US $1.06 million deducted from his salaryover the course of the season for missing practices. Most of the missed practices came during pre-season while his team, Zhejiang Chouzhou, was getting ready for the start of the regular season. The sum was deducted from his salary, a final number that represented about one-third of his total salary.
Zhejiang Chouzhou general manager, Zhao Bing, said that the team was simply enforcing a clause in Smith's signed contract and that the team gave him ample warning throughout.
"This was the arrangement when he came to the team," said Zhao. "Every practice we let him know. If he expressed to us that he wasn't going to come to practice, we'd tell him that in accordance with our contract, we're deducting money from your salary. And he'd always get back to us with, 'Whatever. If you're going to take it, then just take it.'"
The article adds that Zhao Bing repeatedly told J.R. about the seriousness of the situation, but that he continued with the attitude that it was an unimportant issue for him. - via nuffball
Maybe its also a way for this Chinese team to show their unsatisfactory to JR Smiths' game in china.
Watch here his highlights at Chinese Basketball Association
