National Basketball Association

JR Smith finds Twitter trouble again

Published Nov. 14, 2013 12:00 a.m. ET

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J.R. Smith might be in trouble again because of Twitter.

The New York Knicks guard, who was fined $25,000 by the NBA last year for a racy tweet, had a new problem Thursday after an exchange with Detroit's Brandon Jennings that appeared to include a threat.

''I'm always in trouble with Twitter,'' Smith said before the Knicks played Houston. ''I don't know what it is. Trying to shake it.''

His latest issue started Wednesday after Jennings made a critical comment about Smith's little brother, Chris, who also plays for the Knicks.

Jennings noted that Chris Smith is in the NBA though Pooh Jeter and Bobby Brown aren't. J.R. Smith, saying he is tired of people disrespecting his little brother, responded with a couple of tweets, the one that appeared threatening toward Detroit later taken down.

But Smith denied any bad intent, saying he and Jennings have played together in the summer and had a good relationship.

''There's a way to threaten somebody and that's not the way, to publicly threaten somebody,'' Smith said.

He added that he didn't think his tweets were a big deal, but said coach Mike Woodson spoke with him about it. He said he hadn't heard yet from the NBA, which could decide to penalize him.

The league did in March 2012 after Smith posted a picture of a scantily clad woman on his account.

Smith said he had stayed off Twitter recently but grew tired of the criticisms of Chris, whose roster spot has been a source of controversy. Chris Smith hasn't proven himself to be an NBA player, and Woodson said during the preseason that being J.R. Smith's brother would be a factor when he decided on his final cuts.

Now J.R. may go back to ignoring the site again.

''I haven't tweeted in a couple of months until the other day, so it was working kind of, so I might just go back to that,'' Smith said.

He may not have a choice. Woodson said he only wanted players tweeting positive things, but might decide to put in a policy prohibiting them from tweeting entirely.