Mark Cuban had an interesting appearance on Patrick Beverley’s podcast recently. During the hour-long must-see episode, the two basketball fanatics discussed a wide range of topics regarding the NBA. However, Cuban’s stance on Beverley’s “vices” question has become the talk of the hoop world after the episode aired. Stephen A. Smith was the latest personality to give his take on the comments. Using Kevin Durant as an example, the ESPN analyst agreed with the Dallas Mavericks owner’s hot take.
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During the episode, Patrick Beverley asked Mark Cuban whether or not a player’s vices factor in when deciding his salary. Cuban instantly revealed that these vices do indeed play a huge role. In order to protect the franchise’s “culture”, the business tycoon even admitted that he kicked certain guys off the team because they smoked too much.
Stephen A. Smith agrees with Mark Cuban, calls out Kevin Durant for his remarks
During a recent episode of First Take, Stephen A. Smith was asked to chime in on Mark Cuban’s comments. Without any hesitation, Smith disclosed that he agrees with the Dallas Mavericks owner. Expressing his disappointment in Kevin Durant, the 55-year-old briefly spoke about KD publicly advocating smoking marijuana. The analyst didn’t have a problem with the Phoenix Suns superstar indulging in this vice, but didn’t think it was necessary for the Slim Reaper to advertise the same. Smith said during the show:
“Mark Cuban is absolutely right…I was really ashamed that Kevin Durant had come out publicly and just acknowledged and admitted to the weed that he’s smoking. I’m not talking about doing it, do what you wanna do. But you don’t have to advertise everything.”
After lauding Cuban for giving a much-needed wake-up call to certain players, Stephen A. deep-dived into the qualities of a true leader.
“I applaud Mark Cuban for coming out and acknowledging that that plays a role… Sometimes you see guys, particularly on the superstar levels, there’s a separation between those who accept being the marquee and those who accept being leaders and those who don’t.”
Stephen A. Smith isn’t wrong in agreeing with Cuban’s opinions from a management point of view. Even if Durant does want to exercise his freedom of speech by advocating the usage of marijuana, he needs to realize the type of influence that may have on others with less self-control than him.
Stephen A.’s remarks once again brings into light Kevin Durant’s leadership qualities, which has been a contentious topic since the latter joined the Golden State Warriors in 2016. NBA legends like Charles Barkley have questioned KD’s leadership in the past.
KD had a conversation about marijuana with the NBA Commissioner
It is no surprise that Kevin Durant smokes marijuana. On several instances, the two-time NBA Finals MVP has admitted to being ‘high’. The 2014 MVP has tried spreading awareness about the perks of marijuana multiple times and even has his own cannabis ventures.
During the recent Game Plan event hosted by CNBC, KD was one of the influential people who was invited to have a chat with the host Andrew Sorkin. Talking to Sorkin, the future Hall-Of-Famer revealed that he had had conversations with Adam Silver, in the hopes of making marijuana legal in the NBA.
