Josh Smith calls Hawks fans bandwagoners
Josh Smith trolled Atlanta Hawks fans Tuesday night, shushing them after hitting a 3-pointer in the third quarter. Yet after the Hawks shushed Smith's Houston Rockets with a 32-9 fourth-quarter run and a 104-96 win, he didn't keep his mouth shut.
"Those fans are fickle, very fickle and bandwagoners," Smith said, according to ESPN's Kevin Arnovitz. "It doesn't mean anything to me."
Smith played for the Hawks for nine years, from 2004 to 2013. It should also be noted that Smith is from Atlanta. Toward the end of his tenure with the Hawks, fans would sarcastically cheer when the forward jacked up ill-advised 3-point shots, and the same happened Tuesday night, when Smith went 2-of-6 from beyond the arc.
His shot at Atlanta fans was a reference to previous stretches of poor attendance at Philips Arena, before this year's Hawks unexpectedly shot up to the top of the Eastern Conference.
Yet it appears to go a little deeper than that. Smith appears legitimately upset at the treatment from the Atlanta fans. Arnovitz reported that the 29-year-old talked about his previous work in the Atlanta community after Tuesday's game, perhaps hinting at their ingratitude.
"I'd been here for nine years, and all I did was positive things in the community and with the basketball team," said Smith.