INDEPENDENCE, Ohio _ J.R. Smith wouldn't say if he thought he deserved Thursday's one-game suspension for throwing a bowl of soup at Cavaliers assistant coach Damon Jones.
But while the Cavs guard said he couldn't remember what kind of soup it was, he admitted he found the social media reaction entertaining.
"Some of them were actually pretty funny. I understand that everything I do is going to have a meme or whatever behind it," Smith said, speaking after shootaround for Saturday's home game against the Denver Nuggets for the first time since the incident. "That's just part of the day and age we live in. If this was 15 years ago, nobody would have even knew. It's just part of the game."
The altercation happened in the cafeteria at Cleveland Clinic Courts after shootaround for the Cavs' home game against the Philadelphia 76ers and resulted in Smith sitting out the 108-97 loss. He said he didn't even watch it.
"When I'm not a part of the game, it's hard for me to watch and that's whether I'm watching somebody else or watching my team. I don't watch basketball in my spare time," he said.
Asked if he agreed with the suspension, Smith said, "It's not really my call. More than anything, I talked to my teammates about it, everybody seemed cool. We moved on from it as a team, so whether it warranted a suspension or not, that's not my job. I'm just here to play basketball."
Smith said he had not spoken to Jones.
Asked if the incident was a build-up of his frustrations from a disappointing season in which he's averaging the second-fewest points (8.3) of his career, Smith said, "I have an idea of what I want to say, but I'm not going to say it, so I'm going to leave that as it is."
Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said Thursday that Smith would regain his starting spot against the Nuggets, but Smith said he didn't feel like he has anything to prove.
"Nah, absolutely not. Just go out there and play my game, play the way I've been playing since I've been here and we should be fine," he said. "My state of proving myself to whoever is pretty much over with for me. I'm just trying to get better for my teammates and try to play Cavs basketball the way we've been playing."
LeBron James and Smith are close friends as well as James and Jones, but James didn't want to comment on what happened between the two.
"Ain't got nothing to do with me," James said. "Momma told me a long time ago to mind your business. Stay out of grown folks' business that ain't got nothing to do with me. That's what I did."
James seems confident that Smith will remain a key member of the Cavs down the stretch and through the playoffs.
"I think he knows how important he is to our ball club, both offensively and defensively since he got here," James said. "So, absolutely. We expect that. We know it's been a challenging year for him, but we expect for him to be there when we need him."
Kevin Love said Friday that the four remaining Cavs from the 2016 championship team _ himself, James, Smith and Tristan Thompson _ have to help integrate the four new players acquired at the Feb. 8 trade deadline. Smith said he's ready to be part of that.
"Yeah, absolutely. It's kind of been like that since training camp when we got the other guys," Smith said. "It just sucks to be going through a process that we're going through right now with myself to be looked at as one of the leaders and one of the heads of this team and to be going through this situation. But everybody has their ups and downs. I can't say I hope they learn from my mistakes, I just hope they don't do it. But it definitely puts perspective for the younger guys."
