Stephen A. Smith is no stranger to creating controversies and going viral for his rants or sizzling hot takes about players and teams. His unapologetic and usually loud style isn’t everyone’s cup of tea including Kevin Durant. The Phoenix Suns superstar, who has been on the receiving end of a lot of flak from Smith, co-signed Jason Page’s lengthy takedown of the analyst.
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The SportsWrap host, and former ESPN employee, was incensed about Smith reading a message from an NBA scout labeling Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown arrogant and unmarketable. Page posted a rant about the ESPN analyst on X and claimed he wasn’t a journalist but rather an entertainer, who makes outlandish claims to go viral on social media.
❤ Kevin Durant (KDTrey5) liked a new post: https://t.co/gAsuHys1qn
— NBA Alerts (@theNBAalert) May 29, 2024
Kevin Durant seemingly agreed with the podcast host’s take as he endorsed it with a like. The Suns star has called out Smith in the past too. In 2022, the two-time Finals MVP attacked him and then-Fox Sports analysts Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe, claiming that the trio’s work on First Take and UNDISPUTED was the ‘worst thing’ to happen to basketball.
My theory is that guys like steve, skip and Shannon have changed the game for the worse. Playas like Stephen and Michael can only push the game forward. https://t.co/0Oc9J2HqxS
— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) June 2, 2022
Durant hasn’t been a fan of Smith for a while and is likely glad others are joining him in calling out the controversial analyst. He’s the second prominent NBA-affiliated voice to take exception to the analyst’s behavior this week after Detroit Pistons icon Isiah Thomas, who wasn’t too pleased about his comments on Jaylen Brown.
Isiah Thomas also calls out SAS
Following the Celtics’ Game 2 win over the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals, the First Take crew discussed whether Jaylen Brown was the most underrated player in the NBA. During the segment, Smith read a bizarre message he claimed he received from an NBA scout,
“I wanted to read to y’all what an NBA source just sent me [about Jaylen Brown]. He said, ‘Jaylen Brown, it’s not so much that he’s underrated, it’s that he’s just not liked because of his I-am-better-than-you attitude. He knows it. It’s the same reason he is not as marketable as he should be.’ That’s what an NBA source just sent me.”
Isiah Thomas, who mentored Brown, took to X to call the analyst out. The Hall of Famer told him that he should either name anonymous sources making outlandish claims or not air those opinions.
I have been a friend, mentor and advisor to @FCHWPO since he was a student at UC Berkeley he is 100 percent marketable and before you slander his name @stephenasmith tell your source to put their name on it or don’t speak on it. Let it be known.
— Isiah Thomas (@IsiahThomas) May 26, 2024
Smith couldn’t conjure a viable rebuttal and accused Thomas of using cheap tactics to score social media brownie points. Asking the analyst to reveal his source, Brown also replied to the clip.
State your source https://t.co/7ay3dXr6YN
— Jaylen Brown (@FCHWPO) May 26, 2024
The Pistons icon defused the situation by responding he’d call him and address the situation in private. Thomas and Smith’s skirmish didn’t escalate, but if the analyst goes after Durant, expect an epic duel.