Vecsey: Josh Smith Nothing But Trouble

The Atlanta Hawks' Josh Smith is a star-in-the-making. In his third year, the uber-athletic forward has come into his own, especially since the injury to Joe Johnson. There have also been some incidents of bad behavior--pulling a Michael Vick with the home fans earlier this season, and just this week, a suspension for cussing out authority figures. But if you're like me, you chalked these up to immaturity, and assumed they were no big deal.

Hold up, says Peter Vecsey. Today in the New York Post, Vecsey reminds us that "For three seasons I've written about Smith's vulgar disrespect for Woodson, his assistants and a teammate or two." And it gets worse. Like the time Smith, then under-age, was asked to leave a club when he tried to buy drinks:

"Josh kept threatening he was going home to get his gat and was coming back with his peeps," the source asserted. "Thank goodness Josh Childress was there. He kept calming down Smith and telling him to chill. Finally, he got him out of there before anything physical or worse happened."

Let's keep in mind, that Vecsey's been known to go on vendettas. And even if this is worse than mere childishness, Smith wouldn't be the first player to go through some growing pains. But with the Hawks facing some tough choices in the near-future about their armada of small forwards, this might be worth keeping in mind. On talent alone, Smith is probably top twenty in the entire league. If he's this much of an ass and will come with a huge price tag, though, wouldn't the Hawks be better served by going with character guys Marvin Williams and Josh Childress? It's not like they're slouches on the court, either.