Josh Smith: 'Harder' comment about moving family, not salary

Newest Clipper Josh Smith got into some hot water over comments assumed to be about money. He says they were about his family.

Josh Smith wasn't saying he's not getting paid enough. (USATSI)

During the introductory Los Angeles Clippers press conference, Josh Smith was introduced as one of newest members of the team. When he was asked about joining the roster on a minimum deal, Smith talked about how his decision had nothing to do with the money involved. A player who used to be one of the most versatile two-way players in the NBA had earned big money in the NBA before. Now he was being paid the minimum by a hopeful title contender.

This is what Smith said at the time:

“It wasn’t about the money because of the Detroit situation, but at the end of the day, I do have a family, so it is going to be a little harder on me this year. But I’m going to push through it and try to do something long-term after this year.”

It was assumed he was talking about making less money than he had previously made. After making at least $10 million per season over the previous seven seasons, Smith would be down to $6.4 million for next year. While that's still a lot of money to most people in the world, that's a significant pay cut in terms of sheer dollar amount. He was going from around $14 million last season to less than half of that.

There were plenty of media outlets and posts out there who pounced on the idea of Smith talking about making less money being harder for his family. In a post for the Players' Tribune, the Clippers' forward clarified that he was talking about moving his family around and not money when it came to his comments.

Apparently the headline was: Josh Smith went to the Clippers press conference and said he didn’t make enough money? Even the idea of it is kind of ridiculous. Anyone who knows me, or knows how one-year contracts work in the NBA, understood what I was saying. This is my third team in less than a year. I was talking about how moving affects my family. But the headline about greed was the one everyone ran with.

The whole thing about it being “harder on me” comes down to family. It seems obvious to me, but maybe I could have said it more clearly. If you know the NBA, you know that moving to a new team is a decision that affects an athlete’s whole family. That’s even more true when you’re signing a one-year deal. With a one-year deal, there’s less stability because you know you might be moving again in a year.

So I’m out there power-walking with the fam. My first response was, OK, who cares how a few people interpreted it? I know everyone on the Internet likes to be judgmental at one point or another. I try not to be too sensitive to any one thing. But it’s funny, because if you look at my whole statement, no one present at the press conference had any issue with it. Everyone seemed to know what I meant. It wasn’t until later that it took on a life of its own.

When you mention Latrell Sprewell in just about any NBA discussion, the first thing that comes out of someone's mouth is Sprewell's infamous comments about "needing to feed his family" as to why he turned down a three-year offer worth $30 million from the Minnesota Timberwolves back in 2004. This is a player who helped lead the New York Knicks to the NBA Finals, was All-NBA First Team in his second season in the NBA and choked his own coach, leading to a gigantic suspension back in 1997. And yet, the comments about feeding his family are the first thing you often hear when his name is mentioned.

We're always looking for our next Sprewell to laugh about and it seemed like Smith fit the bill in this case. It's possible he's just trying to spin his comments into something that doesn't make him the next Sprewell. It's also possible that what he's saying is the truth. He doesn't want to keep moving his family around year-to-year, and creating some continuity and long-term security with one franchise as the forward turns 30 this coming season is his main concern.

There are options -- often his shot selection -- when it comes to booing Josh Smith. Perhaps, these comments won't be used as fuel as he cleans up whatever mess he didn't know he had made with them.