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‘Most ignorant thing I’ve heard a player say’: Stephen A Smith blasts Kyrie Irving for ‘Steve Nash head coach’ comments

Amulya Shekhar
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Stephen A Smith on Kyrie Irving

Stephen A Smith returned to the studio in fine form this morning. Among the things he discussed was the Kyrie Irving controversy caused by his statements on KD’s podcast.

Kyrie Irving had appeared on Kevin Durant’s pod last week, and made a number of iffy statements. One of them was stating that Kevin Durant was his first teammate who he could defer to in clutch moments, or trust to make the same shots.

Another was how the Nets do not really ‘need a head coach’ given the presence of tacticians such as him and Durant.

Stephen A Smith chastizes Kyrie for ‘head coach’ comments

Stephen A Smith is one of those people who was very vocal against Steve Nash’s appointment as the Brooklyn Nets head coach.

The ESPN ‘First Take’ host had called it a case of white privilege at play. He was ridiculed from all quarters for his partisan, racially motivated take.

Also Read: ‘Ben Simmons can be LeBron James 2.0’: Stephen A Smith on how Simmons can be like the Lakers star

The greatest moment of Kyrie’s career was hitting the game-winning 3-pointer against the Warriors in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals.

That was a team coached by Ty Lue, who has been viewed more as a man manager than an X’s and O’s coach. But Kyrie played his best basketball (in the regular season) under Brad Stevens, a voraciously talented head coach at running plays.

The fact that Kyrie still advocates for a head coach willing to pass on those play-calling duties beats most NBA viewers. At the NBA level, one has to be detached from the game to understand and adapt to the needs of the game.

About the author

Amulya Shekhar

Amulya Shekhar

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Amulya Shekhar is a sports junkie who thrives on the thrills and frills of live sports action across basketball, football (the American variant works too), parkour, adventure sports. He believes sports connect us to our best selves, and he hopes to help people experience sports more holistically.

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