JR Smith turns 36: 5 craziest moments from JR Swish's NBA career

#3 'Shirtless JR Smith'

JR Smith played in ten games for the LA Lakers during the 2020 NBA playoffs.

When JR Smith won his first NBA title with the Cleveland Cavaliers, an iconic image was born - 'shirtless JR'.

Over the summer of 2016 during the Cavs' trophy tour, during the team's parties in Las Vegas and when interacting with fans, Smith had his top off. The joke took on new meaning when he started selling t-shirts with his torso on them, and President Barack Obama had to publicly request Smith to wear a shirt to the White House.

Despite only being a bit-part player in his second Championship run with the LA Lakers, JR was not going to allow that to get in the way of his celebrations. Even before the Lakers saw out game six against the Miami Heat, Smith already had his top off on the sidelines. He came sprinting onto the court when the final buzzer sounded, to celebrate with LeBron James and other teammates.

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#4 Earning a $50K fine for untying opponents' shoelaces

LA Clippers vs New York Knicks

JR Smith's tenure with the New York Knicks was arguably his best period in the NBA. He won the Sixth Man of the Year award in the 2012-13 season after averaging 18 points and 5.3 rebounds per game, helping them to the second round of the playoffs.

However, in the next campaign, Smith grabbed the headlines for another reason and one far more amusing for NBA fans. He was fined $50,000 by the league for consistently trying to untie opponents' shoelaces at the free-throw line.

Smith was successful in doing so to Dallas Mavericks star Shawn Marion. He attempted to do the same in his next game against Greg Monroe of the Detroit Pistons too.

J.R. Smith fined $50K by NBA for tying players' shoes at foul line. By my count J.R. has now been fined at least $910,000 in career

— Brian Windhorst (@WindhorstESPN) January 8, 2014

The NBA acted upon the 'infraction'. Had they not done so, Smith claimed he would have kept untying shoelaces because he liked to have fun on the court.

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#5 Soup-tossing ban

JR Smith struggled during the 2017-18 campaign for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

JR Smith received a lot of fines and bans throughout his career in the NBA. In 2018, he was involved in an altercation with Cavaliers' assistant coach Damon Jones, which makes up one of the craziest stories during his time in the league.

Smith reportedly threw soup at Jones after a team shootaround. That led him to be suspended by the franchise after their loss against the Philadelphia 76ers. Neither the Cavs nor the shooting guard spoke publicly about the incident. Sources close to the camp at the time confirmed the story to the media, though.

Damon Jones finally speaks about JR Smith soup incident: “The soup was on my arm and it was hot as hell”, per @JalenandJacoby pic.twitter.com/cCmt3YxPNY

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 19, 2019

Although he played 80 games during the 2017-18 NBA season, JR Smith had one of his worst campaigns. He averaged a dismal 8.3 points and 2.9 rebounds on 28 minutes per game.