ESPN
Stephen A. Smith is one of the most opinionated human beings on planet earth. The fact that he gets to blow up about sports topics every single day just happens to be the cherry on top of that opinion cake, with the guy often going ballistic about even the smallest things, never worried about how people might react.
While Stephen A. Smith has heard criticism from plenty of people in his life, the latest comes from a guy who many people in the NBA haven’t even thought about for the past few years; David Blatt. As many of us remember, the last time we even heard David Blatt’s name was when he was being fired midseason by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016, who then went on to win the NBA title that same year. Now coaching the Greek Euroleague team Olympiacos, Blatt took aim at Stephen A. for his take on Dallas Mavericks star rookie Luka Doncic, who the head coach saw a few times over in Europe.
According to Blatt, he wasn’t a big fan of how Stephen A. Smith seemed to trash Doncic prior to last year’s NBA Draft, instead favoring the No. 1 overall pick, DeAndre Ayton. Here’s what Blatt had to say about Smith’s analysis, per The Big Lead, via the Calcalist’s Forecast 2019 conference in Tel Aviv.
“I told everyone he was the best player in the draft. Stephen A. Smith is clueless at basketball,” Blatt said, referring to several comments made by the ESPN commentator favoring 2018 first draft pick DeAndre Ayton. “(Dončić) is hands down the best player in the draft.”
Luka Doncic, who has brought an electricity to his Mavs team with his play and theatrics on the floor, is believed to be the early leader in the clubhouse for the Rookie of the Year Award. On the other side, Ayton is having a good season as well, but his Phoenix Suns continue to struggle, and he hasn’t had the impact that Doncic has.
Still, for David Blatt to call out Stephen A. Smith and call him “clueless” is a pretty bold claim. I mean, sure, Doncic may be the better rookie right now, showing he could be a transcendent star in the league, but Blatt was also the guy who nearly cost his Cavs team a 2015 playoff win by trying to call a timeout that he didn’t have, so, you know, maybe that would’ve been a bigger mistake than being wrong about which rookie would be better. Just saying.
Anyway, I’m sure Stephen A. Smith will have something delightful to say on social media or on First Take tomorrow, so here’s to hoping he responds to Blatt in kind.