Josh Smith says making $6.9 million in 2015-16 will be 'hard'

Josh Smith has had an up-and-down 11-year NBA career. Loaded with talent and with flashes of brilliance, he has yet to live up to his potential. That being said, he has made about $94 million in his career after jumping straight to league out of high school in 2004.

He spent the first nine years of his tenure with the Atlanta Hawks, but has been bouncing from team to team over the past couple seasons. Smith played for the Detroit Pistons for a year and a half, but was nearly invisible on a team with a very low ceiling. Seemingly lacking the motivation to play for a non-playoff team, Smith was sent to a power in the Western Conference, the Houston Rockets.

During the off-season free agency frenzy, Smith signed with the Los Angeles Clippers, a team now looking like a legitimate championship contender. He signed a one-year veteran's minimum contract for around $1.5 million and will be receiving $5.4 million from the Pistons. If the Pistons had not let him go, he would be making $14 million this season instead of $6.9 million.

That brings us to the statement Smith made during a press conference in which the Clippers welcomed their latest signings for the upcoming season.

"At the end of the day, you know, I do have a family," Smith said. "So it is going to be a little harder on me this year. But I'm going to push through it, you know."

Despite having his salary cut in half for the 2015-16 season, his choice of words did not go over well with the general public. Saying he will have to "push through" making a mere $6.9 million does not generate much sympathy. Sorry Josh.

The Josh on the other side of this computer has to think twice before adding guacamole to his burrito.

I played in a one-day professional golf tournament this past weekend and shot 68 (-4). I netted just over $100 for the day and I was pretty darn happy. My largest check this year was nearly $4,000 and that was celebration worthy. Josh Smith will certainly not have any sympathy from developmental tour golfers. The leading money-winner on most developmental tours makes under $100,000 for the year. And that's the leader.

I get that having your expected salary cut in half can be tough, but complaining publicly about making nearly $7 million, putting you over the $100 million-mark for your career, is probably not the smartest PR move. Last I checked, most families are able to "push through" with sums far below what Smith will be raking in this coming season.

The Clippers also managed to resign free agent big man DeAndre Jordan to a four-year $87.6 million contract. Maybe if Smith is running short on cash in the near future, he can befriend his new comrade and borrow some dough. After all, he does have a family to feed.