Knicks will win NBA championship this year, according to J.R. Smith

The New York Knicks are guaranteed to win an championship this year, according to a column written by Marc Berman of the New York Post. Berman’s source, however, was none other than Knicks sixth-man extraordinaire J.R. Smith.

Smith made headlines on Saturday after Ian Begley fired off a few tweets regarding the beef between Smith and new Brooklyn Nets wing Paul Pierce, but that wasn’t the end of Earl The Third’s Saturday thoughts. The mercurial sharpshooter also made a few other disparaging comments about the Nets after guaranteeing a championship.

During a question-and-answer session with kid golfers at Chelsea Piers, Smith was asked how sure he was of the Knicks ending their title drought this season.

“I’m 100 percent sure,” the swingman said.

Smith was then asked why he joined the Knicks over the Nets when he came back from China in February 2012.

“The Nets weren’t good,’’ Smith said. “Now they’re still not good.’’

The Nets are substantially better than they were last season at this time, but that’s not the most controversial statement Smith made on Saturday. No, Smith guaranteed a championship for a team that made Andrea Bargnani their big addition this summer and hasn’t been to the NBA Finals since the 1998-99 lockout -- and hasn’t won an NBA Finals since the 1972-73 squad that featured Walt Frazier, Dave DeBusschere, Bill Bradley, Earl Monroe, Willis Reed, Jerry Lucas, Phil Jackson, Henry Bibby and the recently deceased Dean Meminger.

The NBA news cycle hasn’t been intense over the holiday weekend, but at least J.R. Smith is doing his part to keep reporters busy.