Stephen A. Smith is back at the center of the Golden State Warriors feud. When Draymond Green punched Jusuf Nurkic and earned an indefinite suspension, the ESPN analyst pointed out that Stephen Curry wouldn’t be asked the same questions LeBron James would be, in a similar situation. The suspended Warriors star addressed those comments on the ‘Draymond Green Podcast’ and said,
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“[The Stephen Curry slander] p***ed me off, but it crushed me. How is Steph enduring being a bad leader? This guy doesn’t give up anything to tear him down about. He does everything the right way. And yet he’s the one being tore down because of my actions? Crushed me.”
Now, answering Green’s comments, Smith has fired back on the ‘Stephen A. Smith Show’. He showed the clip the Warriors star referred to, proving that he did not call Curry a “bad leader.” He spoke directly to Green, saying,
“Did you hear me say that Steph Curry was a bad leader? The answe is no. Draymond Green, that is false, that is erroneous. That is not true.”
Smith then also called out Warriors head coach Steve Kerr. The analyst claimed Kerr gave interviews saying he was disgusted by people calling out Curry but did not dare to call out Smith by name. He spoke glowingly about Curry and explained that he understands the two-time MVP leads by example.
While Smith is correct in saying that he did not call Curry a bad leader, he did invoke his name while discussing Green’s violent outburst. He compared the Warriors superstar to James, alluding that he’s not held to the same standard as the Lakers superstar. Smith’s words did give the impression that he was undermining Curry as a leader, prompting Green and Kerr to defend him.
Needless to say, whatever happened with Green has little to do with Steph, and questioning his leadership in any manner is not justified.
Stephen A. Smith’s beef with Steve Kerr
After Stephen A. Smith’s sly dig at Stephen Curry’s leadership, Steve Kerr went to bat for his team’s superstar. After the Warriors’ loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on December 14th, the head coach said,
“For anybody to question Steph Curry’s leadership, it’s actually kind of sickening to me. And I saw some of that yesterday. It was disgusting. Talking about one of the finest human beings I have ever been around.”
Kerr did not mention Smith but the analyst took it upon himself to respond to the Warriors’ head coach. On an episode of First Take, he said, “Steve Kerr didn’t mention me by name. I’ll mention Steve Kerr by name. I’m disgusted with him.”
He added, “We all fawn over Steph Curry. Why would you try to twist it like that? You trying to tell me that Steph Curry’s not a human being, that every single thing about him is absolutely positively perfect?”
Kerr did not respond to Smith’s rant. However, the analyst is still upset about the head coach’s comments in the aftermath of the incident. Kerr will likely brush off the incident and refrain from responding. However, if he opts to respond, Smith is waiting with bated breath for round two.
