Josh Smith Gets Booed In Return To Detroit
Ever since waiving Josh Smith the Detroit Pistons became competitive. They won their fist seven games after releasing Smith and have gone 13-7 since starting 5-32. Now with the Houston Rockets, Smith returned to Detroit with his new team for the first time on Saturday night.
The fans let him know how they felt.
Smith heard boos from the Pistons fans every time he touched the ball. They enjoyed his 3-of-11 shooting night from the field as the Rockets took a 114-101 loss.
Here was Smith’s reaction after the game, via Shawn Windsor of the Detroit Free Press:
“It’s really not emotional to me because I haven’t been here long enough to feel any sort of way,” said Smith, who signed with the Pistons in the off-season of 2013 from his hometown Atlanta Hawks. “The booing didn’t affect me.
“If you ask me something about Atlanta I’ll have a lot more to say about emotions.”
Smith became a Piston in 2013, so his answer makes sense. It also makes it curious why Pistons fans felt the need to boo him. Just because it didn’t work out with him on the roster? It’s not like he chose to leave or left in an ill manner. Smith even went on record to say that he was “excited” for the Pistons’ recent success. I guess the fact that he represented a dismal and unsuccessful period for Detroit, no matter or short, was reason enough for them to let him have it.
