Former NBA player J.R. Smith was arrested on Tuesday, September 29, on an assault charge in Hunt County, Texas, jail records confirm.
Smith, 41, was charged with assault causing bodily injury (family violence) and remains in custody as of Tuesday afternoon with no bond currently set. TMZ was first to report his arrest.
No further details are available at this time.
Smith played 16 seasons in the NBA from 2004 to 2020, winning championships with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016 and Los Angeles Lakers in 2020. He has not played professionally since then, but has also not formally announced his retirement.
In his post-NBA playing days, Smith has turned to golf. He was a walk-on for the North Carolina A&T golf team for five years until his graduation in May 2026. Since then, he has competed in amateur tournaments, according to the New York Post.
Smith previously served 24 days of a 90-day jail sentence in 2009 after being involved in a car crash that killed friend Andre Bell, who was traveling with him. He pleaded guilty to reckless driving.
Smith opened up about his jail sentence in an appearance on BET’s “For the Fellas” podcast on Thursday, September 24.
“I was in solitary confinement and we got one hour out a day for 23 days,” he recalled. “So I’m literally in the cell 23 [hours a day].”
That’s when, he said, he learned who his real friends are.
“At that time I think I played for like six coaches. Two professionally,” Smith said. “Had a boatload of teammates, assistant coaches, GMs, all this. And I had two people from all of that come see me when I was in jail.”
He continued, “Dudes I rocked with…no nothing. Phone calls, letters, nothing. For me, that should put things into perspective like, you all really don’t care.”
Smith added that those who didn’t support him at his lowest point soon came back — once he was back on the court and won a championship.
In 2017, Smith pled not guilty to allegations of reckless driving and excessive speeding in Ohio after being pulled over the night before a Cavaliers preseason game.
Three years later, video obtained by TMZ showed Smith appearing to punch and kick an unidentified man in Los Angeles. He later claimed the man had damaged his truck’s windows.
“I chased him down and whooped his ass,” Smith told TMZ at the time. “He broke my window. This ain’t no hate crime. I ain’t got no problem with nobody, nobody ain’t got no problem with me.”
