J.R. Smith Reacts to Video of Him Beating Alleged Vandal

Sunday afternoon, a video showed former Cleveland Cavaliers star J.R. Smith kicking and punching an unidentified male in the streets of Los Angeles. The person had allegedly broken a window on Smith’s truck during protests, so he chased him down and “whooped his a—.” Now Smith has further explained the situation.

The longtime NBA player appeared on The Pat McAfee Show on Monday to discuss the incident. He explained that he was trying to emulate Jon Jones with his kicks, but he ultimately eased up. Smith said that he “saw red” during the incident but didn’t put as much effort into the third kick. The reason is that he didn’t want his daughters to see the video and think differently about him.

“I’m still disappointed with myself even though people say I shouldn’t be,” Smith said. “For me, I’m 34 years old. I have four little girls at home. I don’t want that image — regardless of the fact whether it was right or wrong — I don’t want them to have that image of their dad being capable of doing that and doing something like that.”

Smith continued to explain that the situation would be different if someone tried to harm his daughters. He wants them to know that he would protect them, but he doesn’t want them to view him as someone that would beat another person in the street. Although host Pat McAfee disagreed with this sentiment. The former Indianapolis Colts punter said that Smith should be proud of taking a stand and fighting for the future against an “anarchist punk.”

Prior to the video making rounds on social media, Smith recorded a clip of his own explaining the incident. He said at the time that the unidentified male had allegedly vandalized his truck. Smith said that the beating was not “a hate crime” and that he simply chased down someone that had broken the window in his truck. The former Cavs player also clarified that the incident occurred in a residential area away from the stores and businesses that sustained damage during the protests.