J.R. Smith cleared of choking fan outside New York pizzeria

On a busy day elsewhere in the Cleveland Cavaliers organization, word came that J.R. Smith has been cleared of any culpability in relation to a November incident where a New York City man claimed the shooting guard choked him.

The Manhattan district attorney's office and the NYPD have closed their investigation into the alleged assault, according to Smith's lawyer Alex Spiro.

The former Knick had been accused of choking 19-year-old Justin Brown outside a Chelsea pizzeria Nov. 13, after Brown allegedly heckled Smith for being traded from New York to Cleveland.

Smith publicly denied the charge, which wasn't filed with authorities until three days after the supposed altercation. The Cavaliers were in the city at the time to play the Knicks.

Smith, a New Jersey native, had an interesting relationship with fans during his three-and-a-half seasons in New York. He once led a bike ride through the streets of Manhattan in the middle of the night with a group of random strangers he met on the Internet.