The baby brother of bad boy Cleveland Cavaliers forward and former Knick J.R. Smith appeared in Manhattan court Monday for slugging a bouncer at an Upper East Side club.
Jamahl Smith, 31, known professionally as Chris Smith, allegedly socked Jonathan Abreu Dec. 10, 2018, at Lavo on E. 58th St.
“I didn’t like the way the bouncer approached me and stopped me,” Smith allegedly told cops, according to court papers.
Abreu suffered “a black eye to the right eye, a laceration to the forehead, and swelling and bruising to his face and substantial pain,” a criminal complaint states. Smith faces misdemeanor assault, attempted assault and harassment raps.
Smith, who played in one disastrous injury-plagued season for the Knicks in 2012 and has been a journeyman playing in American and Israeli leagues since then, has to abide by a full order of protection banning any contact with the victimized bouncer.
His attorney, Alex Spiro, said, “This was a misunderstanding at a nightclub. End of story.”
Smith’s hot-headed big brother, J.R. — a Freehold, N.J., native who played parts of four seasons for the Knicks until being traded to the Cavs in 2015 — was in the same courthouse last October with the same lawyer to take a plea deal for allegedly chucking a fan’s phone outside a Chelsea bar.
Sports Illustrated described the younger Smith when he played with the Knicks as “the worst player in the league.”
The story added that “his inclusion on New York’s regular-season roster stands as a blatant appeasement of Smith’s older — and far more talented — brother.”
The younger Smith played two games with the Knicks for a total of 1 minute, according to ESPN.
Smith currently plays with the Israeli team Maccabi Kiryat Motzkin.