ESPN
Stephen A. Smith is one of the biggest sports personalities on TV. His passion and knowledge comes through every single time he opens his mouth, as he will literally yell to make his point, regardless of who is on the other end of a debate. And while Stephen A. might soon become the highest-paid on-air talent ever at ESPN because of all that he does for the network, there are a few times where he makes you scratch your head at what he’s saying.
One of those times came yesterday when Stephen A. Smith was asked to rank his top-5 players in the NBA right now. While Smith is obviously open to his voicing his own opinion on which guy he thinks deserves to be in that upper-echelon, he excluded some guys who probably should be in there. Just take a look at which players Stephen A. has as his current best in the league.
Here's @stephenasmith's A-List … and Giannis didn't make the cut. 👀 pic.twitter.com/Lwo92nqb94
— First Take (@FirstTake) June 5, 2019
OK, so you can’t be too mad at his list. I mean, a team made up of Stephen Curry, Anthony Davis, Kawhi Leonard, LeBron James and Kevin Durant would probably go 8-1 in the regular season and 15-1 in the playoffs. But, did anyone else notice that both James Harden — last year’s league MVP — and the probable winner of the award this season, Giannis Antetokounmpo didn’t make the cut? This seems a bit blasphemous to me.
Now you’re probably asking who on Stephen A. Smith’s list I would drop to make room for either one, or both, Giannis and Harden, right? Considering the fact those two guys ranked No. 1 and 2 in the NBA in PER this season, it makes sense that they should probably be in that top-5 — in my personal opinion. Plus, the two clearly mean more to their teams than some of the guys on Stephen A.’s list, which is why, right now, get rid of Anthony Davis and LeBron James.
Sure, AD ranked third in PER and James was eighth, but a team with Curry, Harden, Kawhi, Giannis and Durant would be absolutely unstoppable. I’m not saying Stephen A. Smith should lay off the weed over his top-5, but, damn, how you going to leave Harden and Giannis off that list with a straight face?