ESPN sportscaster Stephen A. Smith is clarifying his comments about the leadership skills of Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry after head coach Steve Kerr defended his star player against the ‘disgusting’ claims.
‘Steve Kerr didn’t mention me by name. I’ll mention him by name,’ Smith said on ESPN’s ‘First Take’ on Friday. ‘I’m disgusted with him.’
The incident started this week after Draymond Green was suspended indefinitely on Wednesday for ‘striking Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkić in the face’ in the Warriors’ 119-116 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday. After Green’s third ejection this season, Smith questioned Curry on allowing Green’s behavior to continue over the years.
“Where’s the leadership?’ Smith said on-air Thursday. ‘If this were LeBron James, if this was a teammate of LeBron James, we’d be all over LeBron James. I don’t think that we should be holding Steph Curry to lesser standards.”
Here’s everything to know about the exchange between Kerr and Smith:
Steve Kerr responds to Stephen A. Smith
Kerr said he caught wind of questions surrounding Curry’s leadership skills and he addressed the comments during a press conference Thursday night, although he did not mention Smith by name.
“For anybody to question Steph Curry’s leadership is actually kind of sickening,” Kerr said. “And I saw some of that yesterday. It was disgusting. (We’re) talking about one of the finest human beings I have ever been around, but that’s the climate that we live in.’
Kerr continued: “So, that’s a big part of the job these days as a professional athlete. You have to deal with everything and you have to accept it; but there are times when you kinda have to say, ‘Really?’ Like, that’s the angle you’re gonna take? You’re gonna question Steph Curry’s leadership? Like, really? You’re gonna do that? Think about that.”
Stephen A. Smith calls out Steve Kerr
Smith issued a rebuttal during Friday’s episode of ‘First Take,’ where he did mention Kerr by name. Smith clarified that he wasn’t questioning Curry as a leader and that Kerr ‘twisted’ his words.
‘Steve Kerr twisted it,’ Smith said. ‘I don’t even wanna use the words that I’m tempted to in terms of him fawning over Steph Curry. We all fawn over Steph Curry. Why would you try to twist it like that.”
Instead, Smith claims he was asking why Curry hasn’t been able to influence Green to change his behavior as it effects not only him, but the entire team.
“You see, this is the problem… Steve Kerr, no one is questioning Steph Curry as a leader. What we said was if that were LeBron James, we would have said, ‘Where are you?’ … We were asking Steph Curry, ‘Where are you on this?’ Smith said. ‘Because you’re such a great leader. Because you’re such a phenomenal leader. Because you’re the closest thing to perfection that I think most of us have ever seen as a professional athlete. We’re asking about the impact that you’ve seemingly been unable to have on a teammate who loves and reveres you, like Draymond Green.”
Smith went on to highlight the success of ‘First Take’ and shot down claims that he was attempting to garner attention with his comments about Curry: ‘You didn’t say my name, but I don’t need clickbait. We’ve been No. 1 for 12 years. With or without YouTube, with or without social media, we’ve been No. 1, period.’