You had to know that Stephen A. Smith was not going to sit quietly on this one. Over the weekend, Suns star and future basketball Hall of Famer Kevin Durant spoke with The Athletic about the well-known ESPN talking head, following up on Smith’s dismissal of Phoenix’s chances to win a championship in the 2024-25 season.
One reason for that dismissal, Smith noted, was the lack of leadership Durant has shown over the course of his career.
As Smith said on the Oct. 24 edition of ESPN’s “First Take” program : “I think that Kevin Durant is one of the greatest talents this game has ever seen. I think that what he’s done for the game of basketball, the ambassador that he is for the game of basketball is to be applauded. But the flip side to all that is that he’s been relatively leaderless.”
Durant took the opportunity in his chat with The Athletic to hit back at Smith, saying, “Stephen A., I don’t understand how people even listen to Stephen A. I’ve been in the league for 18 years. I’ve never seen Stephen A. at a practice, or a film session, or a shoot-around. I’ve never seen him anywhere but on TV talking (expletive) about players. …