Two-time NBA champion JR Smith arrested on assault charge in Texas

Smith was arrested this week on a charge of family violence assault causing bodily injury, according to county records

Sep 30, 2026 at 11:58 am ET • 1 min read

Two-time NBA champion JR Smith was arrested on Monday in Texas on a charge of family violence assault causing bodily injury, according to Hunt County jail records. 

Original reporting from TMZ indicates that Smith was pulled over "after an automatic license plate reader flagged the vehicle he was driving and alerted officers to an active warrant." 

Smith was taken into custody and booked into the Hunt Country Detention Center. No further details on the arrest are available at the moment. 

Smith, who was drafted straight out of high school in 2004, finished fifth in Rookie of the Year voting in 2005 before really coming into his own over five seasons with the Nuggets. He was a classic microwave bench scorer over the bulk of his 16-year career. He finished in the top five of Sixth Man of the Year voting three times, winning the award with the Knicks in 2013, before winning a pair of championships alongside LeBron James with the Cavaliers in 2016 and the Lakers in 2020. 

Smith had a very good career with a lot of big-time performances and moments. Unfortunately, he is probably most remembered for his gaffe in Game 1 of the 2018 NBA Finals. With the score tied in the closing seconds, Smith rebounded George Hill's missed free throw, but instead of going back up with a potential game-winning shot, he ran the ball back out to near half court, thinking the Cavs were actually one point ahead. The game went to overtime, where the Cavs lost before going on to be swept by the Warriors. 

Following his NBA career, Smith went on enroll at North Carolina A&T State University where he played as a 35-year-old freshman on the school's golf team. Over four years with the Aggies, he qualified for and played in seven collegiate tournaments while excelling academically. Smith earned a 4.0 GPA in his first college semester and he was named the school's Academic Athlete of the Year in 2022.