“Support Damian Lillard, but James Harden Is a Different Animal!”: ‘$81,280,084 Demands’ Shown Varying Reactions by Stephen A Smith

Stephen A. Smith and Shannon Sharpe discussed a variety of topics on the latter’s Club Shay Shay podcast. At one point in the near-two-hour-long episode, Stephen A. revealed his honest opinions on the two star Guards – Damian Lillard and James Harden – asking for a trade. Talking about the two demands worth $81,280,084, the ESPN analyst had some contrasting opinions.

Damian Lillard shocked a lot of people when he finally asked the Portland Trail Blazers for a trade. Stephen A. Smith was among the many pundits who supported Dame’s request. A die-hard fan of the New York Knicks, the 55-year-old has manifested for a deal that would land Lillard to play alongside Jalen Brunson.

Stephen A. Smith has contrasting opinions when addressing Lillard and Harden’s trade request

Damian Lillard has spent 11 seasons with the Oregon side. Over the past 11 years, the front office failed to construct a Championship-contending team surrounding him. Yet, “not running away from the grind,” the sharpshooter continued performing his best to bring glory to the franchise. Taking the 6ft 2” Guard’s loyalty into consideration, Stephen A. Smith supports the trade request.

“When I think about Dame, it’s more sensitive because Dame could’ve demanded out on several occasions and he never did. And it’s Portland, it ain’t like he didn’t demand out of LA or Miami. He didn’t demand out of Portland. And he was never gonna get anybody to come to Portland. So now that he’s been there a decade and he’s like ‘it’s time’… He’s given Portland everything he’s had… I support Dame on that,” Stephen A. declared.

SAS wasn’t as kind when it came to approving James Harden’s trade request. According to Smith, the entire fiasco in Philadelphia is something that Harden needs to be held accountable for. Further, Smith recounted all the past three trade requests (from the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Houston Rockets, and the Brooklyn Nets) and claimed how each one of those incidents was an ugly breakup.

“James Harden is a different animal and I like James. But James gotta be more accountable. You got everything you want. They gave you everything… Whatever you wanted, they gave you. Everything… Daryl Morey took care of you… Why is anybody going to be sympathetic towards James Harden for what James Harden has done on three separate occasions?”

James Harden and Damian Lillard are two of the highest earners for the upcoming 2022-2023 campaign. While Dame is set to earn $45,640,084, the 2018 MVP will be raking in $35,640,000. It’ll be interesting to see how this $81,280,084 is spent in the coming few weeks.

Damian Lillard a better fit for Joel Embiid than James Harden?

Earlier in the year, the First Take crew discussed a few potential teams that would benefit from Damian Lillard’s addition. Like always, Stephen A. didn’t shy away from making a bold claim. According to the popular personality, the Philadelphia 76ers would be a great fit for Lillard.

As seen in the embed above, Smith took things up a notch to claim that he would select Dame over James Harden. This doesn’t seem like a bad proposition. A James Harden-Damian Lillard swap could end up benefitting both- the 76ers as well as the Blazers.