J.R. Smith got suspended for throwing soup – chicken tortilla, to be precise – at Cavaliers assistant coach Damon Jones last season. Smith’s anger reportedly stemmed from him not sharing Jones’ joking mood that day.
Now, Jones – whom Cleveland fired with Tyronn Lue earlier this season – is revealing his side of the story.
It was the bowl plus the soup.
It was the first bowl out of the pot, so it was hot as hell. Yes, it was hot, very hot.
I was standing up, and it hit me in the shoulder, arm, everywhere. It hit the wall. I mean, it was a mess.
Kudos to David Jacoby for asking the important questions. This interview revealed a lot – the soup temperature, where it went and whether the bowl got tossed. Unfortunately, Jones dodged Jacoby’s question about whether Smith threw overhand or underhand. Relatedly, we don’t know the distance of the throw. There’s still a lot to uncover.
Additional context: That game in Philadelphia was just over a month after the soup throw. So, the rift didn’t last quite as along as Jones described. It might have felt like three months, though. Even one month is a long time to ignore someone you see every day.
At least the Cavs had experience with a player not talking to anyone.