NBA Scribe Sam Smith Makes Unfortunate Eric Garner Joke

Sam Smith has been around the Chicago Bulls as a writer since before Michael Jordan was a Bull. But his judgment failed him with an Eric Garner joke on Saturday.

Sam Smith, who now writes for the Chicago Bulls official website, has been around the Bulls back to the days of Orlando Woolridge and Quintin Dailey.

Best known for his best seller “The Jordan Rules,” about Michael Jordan, Smith was covering Saturday night’s game between the Bulls and Golden State Warriors at the United Center.

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Derrick Rose, Chicago’s point guard, made a statement before the game by wearing an “I Can’t Breathe” T-shirt during pregame warmups in memory of Eric Garner, the man who died in police custody in Staten Island, N.Y.

Garner’s death has been the topic of much discussion this week after a grand jury opted not to indict the officer responsible for his death, shown on video tape putting Garner in a choke hold that is specifically banned.

Smith attempted to capture the mood of the moment with this tweet, since deleted:

http://t.co/82H7WZYpZT RT @LousyPundit: @talkhoops @teamziller It's deleted, what was it?
— Zach Harper (@talkhoops) December 7, 2014

I am as irreverent as they come and I cringed when I read that. While I realize there will be the typical cries from some corners about “political correctness” run amok and whatnot, the fact is that you just can’t do that when you’re in the public eye.

You just can’t.

Smith must have realized this when he deleted the tweet, but that delete button is never fast enough to escape scrutiny.

Sam Smith has been around the Chicago Bulls as a writer since before Michael Jordan was a Bull. But his judgment failed him with an Eric Garner joke on Saturday.

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