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“You can not put more pressure on Kevin Durant, LeBron James, or Chris Paul than themselves”: Stephen A Smith gets owned by JJ Redick for questioning the legacies of the greats

Akash Murty
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"You can not put more pressure on Kevin Durant, LeBron James, or Chris Paul than themselves": Stephen A Smith gets owned by JJ Redick for questioning the legacies of the greats

Stephen A Smith gets destroyed by JJ Redick on the sets of First Take after questioning the legacies of Kevin Durant and LeBron James.

Stephen A Smith’s takes are as nasty as they come in the NBA community. Fans and other experts are rarely surprised by the likes of him and Skip Bayless of the world. But as they still continue to be the best-paid analysts in the business we have to hear their absurd opinions sporadically.

A couple of days back, the ESPN veteran had a take about the Brooklyn Nets’ MVP, Kevin Durant, that stirred a Twitter spat between Smith and the Slim Reaper.

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Smith said KD’s legacy will be on the line if he fails to win a championship in Brooklyn after leaving the Warriors. Ideally, these types of comments should be totally ignored considering the said person a madman, but Stephen A got what he wanted.

First, he had Wanda Durant, Kevin’s mother’s response to his bizarre opinion.

Then he got the 2-time NBA champ involved as well.


Smith went on his rant while responding to KD.

But nothing beats the beating Smith gets from another expert or an ex-player on his own set.

JJ Redick puts Stephen A Smith in his place yet again

Former NBA sharpshooter and ESPN analyst, JJ Redick, is again at it. The 3-pointer specialist again puts Stephen A Smith in his position while telling him that neither KD nor LeBron James has anything to prove to help sustain their legacies.

This First Take segment namely “Who is under more pressure to win a title: LeBron or Durant?” took place after Smith and Durant’s back and forth online, and Redick didn’t miss his chance to have his say on the subject.

“I don’t think there’s pressure on either guy… There is no one that can put more pressure on Kevin, LeBron, me, Chris Paul than themselves.”

Throwing the fact in his colleagues’ face that no expert opinion puts any more pressure on the athletes with a proper mindset than their own, JJ shut Stephen A down with regard to his expertise as well as anyone.

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Whereas Smith’s disrespectful response to both KD and JJ clearly shows his slightest of regard towards the athletes who earn him his bread.

We get that the likes of Smith do this purely for entertainment but still, there must be some boundaries. Respect them or not, at least the 54-year-old man should behave like a professional on the screen.

About the author

Akash Murty

Akash Murty

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An Electrical and Electronics Engineer by degree, Akash Murty is an NBA Editor at The SportsRush. Previously a Software Engineer, Murty couldn’t keep himself away from sports, and his knack for writing and putting his opinion forward brought him to the TSR. A big Soccer enthusiast, his interest in basketball developed late, as he got access to a hoop for the first time at 17. Following this, he started watching basketball at the 2012 Olympics, which transitioned to NBA, and he became a fan of the game as he watched LeBron James dominate the league. Him being an avid learner of the game and ritually following the league for around a decade, he now writes articles ranging from throwbacks, and live game reports, to gossip. LA Lakers are his favourite basketball team, while Chelsea has his heart in football. He also likes travelling, reading fiction, and sometimes cooking.

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