Speaker 1: The NBA play In Tournament is here.
Speaker 2: That means the NBA Playoffs are soon to follow my
Speaker 2: favorite time of the year.
Speaker 1: How let your boy steven A. Smith Show in the house.
Speaker 1: Let's go. What's up? Everybody? Welcome to the ladies edition
Speaker 1: of The Steven A. Smith Show, coming at you as
Speaker 1: I love to do at the very least three times
Speaker 1: a week over the digital airways of YouTube and of
Speaker 1: course iHeartRadio. Got a lot of stuff to get into today,
Speaker 1: so I'm not gonna waste too much time getting into it.
Speaker 1: The NBA play In Tournament is here, and that's exactly
Speaker 1: where we're getting started with the NBA playoff matchups that
Speaker 1: were finally set yesterday on the last day of the
Speaker 1: regular season. And joining me now to break it all
Speaker 1: down is senior NBA writer and host of the Hoop
Speaker 1: Collective podcast, the one and only Windy himself, Brian Wentors.
Speaker 1: What's up, Big Time? How are you man? How's everything?
Speaker 3: Mister Smith? Always good to see you well.
Speaker 1: First of all, before I start off, I just want
Speaker 1: to say thank you because obviously you're being on the podcast,
Speaker 1: but also your contribution to first take my day job
Speaker 1: on ESPN every weekday morning from ten am to twelve noon.
Speaker 1: The times that you've been on, you've been absolutely outstanding.
Speaker 1: I'm real proud of you, big boy. I really appreciate it,
Speaker 1: and I just wanted to thank you right here, just
Speaker 1: to your face. I wanted to say thank you for everything.
Speaker 3: Thanks for having me last week. You know, you took
Speaker 3: a couple of days off as the Masters were going on.
Speaker 3: You know, I had to. I had to take up
Speaker 3: some of the heavy lifting. It's a heavy as that
Speaker 3: crown on.
Speaker 1: Let me tell you, you did great. You did great.
Speaker 1: I was watching you, man. But listen, man, we got
Speaker 1: a lot of stuff to get into. But the first
Speaker 1: order of business is to get to the firings in
Speaker 1: the NBA. At the conclusion of the regular season, just
Speaker 1: a couple of hours ago or so, we've all learned,
Speaker 1: the Phoenix Suns fired head coach Mike Budenholze after going
Speaker 1: thirty six and forty six and missing the playoffs and
Speaker 1: this first season with the team. Talk to me about,
Speaker 1: first of all, do you think this was the right
Speaker 1: decision and what you think it means for the future
Speaker 1: the Phoenix Suns in terms of their next coach. They've
Speaker 1: failed roster et cetera. What are your thoughts.
Speaker 3: Well, I don't think Buttonholzer was the biggest problem, but
Speaker 3: he certainly did not get the most out of that roster.
Speaker 3: And I think probably the biggest concern is that he
Speaker 3: seemed to not connect with Devin Booker. And going forward,
Speaker 3: I don't know who will be on that roster. Some
Speaker 3: of the guys I'm not sure that they can change,
Speaker 3: but I'm sure Devin Booker will be there. And things
Speaker 3: didn't go well with him and Booker this year, and
Speaker 3: they have to focus on Booker now, that's got to
Speaker 3: be a franchise focus, and he and Booker did not
Speaker 3: vibe and maybe if they'd have wanted it have been different. Obviously.
Speaker 3: The best way I could describe the Suns is that
Speaker 3: over the last few years they've been really good at
Speaker 3: talent acquisition. If you look at the talent they've brought
Speaker 3: in Durant bal even getting a guy like Tyas Jones
Speaker 3: hell that they acquired Grayson Allen. Grayson Allen led the
Speaker 3: league in three point three pointers year. This year had
Speaker 3: some injuries and didn't they get talent. But they can't
Speaker 3: do is team build And I'm not so sure how
Speaker 3: much of that is Bud's fault. There's a lot of
Speaker 3: people got their fingerprints on that, but Budd didn't get
Speaker 3: pretty much got the least out of this group. I mean,
Speaker 3: if you look at their roster and you watch them play,
Speaker 3: you're like, how could this team only produce thirty six wins?
Speaker 3: And I know they had some injuries. I think they
Speaker 3: were thirty three and twenty nine when Kevin Durant played,
Speaker 3: and three and seventeen when he didn't. So I'm sure
Speaker 3: if I was Mike Buttenholder's agent right now, I'd say, well,
Speaker 3: you're firing me because Kevin Durant had some injuries. You're
Speaker 3: firing me because he sprained his ankle. That's fine. But
Speaker 3: still even thirty three and twenty nine with their talent
Speaker 3: with Durant, doesn't make sense. They did not get the
Speaker 3: most out of his team. And that's just reality.
Speaker 1: I remember I watched you on TV a few a
Speaker 1: couple of weeks ago, and it was very riveting what
Speaker 1: you were saying. This is a guy because I think
Speaker 1: the owners the problem. It should be, there's no way
Speaker 1: around it. You get the ownership, you get the owner
Speaker 1: ownership of the Phoenix Suns. Monty Williams, who took your
Speaker 1: team to the finals, is going. Chris Paul, who was
Speaker 1: your point guard in the backcourt with Devin Booker, he's gone.
Speaker 1: DeAndre Ayton, who was your starting center, he ultimately departed.
Speaker 1: You fire Monty Williams, you bring in Frank Vogel, and
Speaker 1: then after Frank Vogel, all right, he's gone after one year,
Speaker 1: and now Budenholze is going. And then you talked about
Speaker 1: all the picks that they've given up, how they've mortgaged
Speaker 1: their future. Essentially, talk to the audience about that and
Speaker 1: how bad things are in Phoenix right now, Like what
Speaker 1: I just articulated, Yeah, I.
Speaker 3: Just want to take you back to twenty twenty one.
Speaker 3: They made the finals, okay, and if you remember, they're
Speaker 3: up two to zero in the finals and they sort
Speaker 3: of fell under the sword of Yasa Tennekoopa who came
Speaker 3: into full bloom. They won four straight games. If you
Speaker 3: can remember, I mean it was you know, one of
Speaker 3: the COVID years, but you know he had this incredible
Speaker 3: game seven. If you remember the team that they had,
Speaker 3: stephen A, it was Devin Booker, who was I think
Speaker 3: drafted tenth or eleventh someone thing I'm in the late lottery.
Speaker 3: Maybe it was thirteenth, but as a draft pick. He
Speaker 3: had Mikhale Bridges, a guy they got on Draft Night.
Speaker 3: They made a Draft Knight trade to acquire him. You
Speaker 3: had Cam Johnson, who not going to the Hall of
Speaker 3: Fame probably, but an excellent role player who fit alongside
Speaker 3: Devin Booker beautifully. You had DeAndre Ayton. Now Deandrayton was
Speaker 3: taking in the Luka Doncics draft, and so if you
Speaker 3: want to say that they screwed that up, they took
Speaker 3: him one, that's fair. However, they drafted him and he
Speaker 3: led that he was their franchise center. They went to
Speaker 3: the finals. The next year. He was their franchise center.
Speaker 3: They won sixty four games. Those are all draft picks.
Speaker 3: They built that team through the draft and then their
Speaker 3: big move after they went eight, they went you know,
Speaker 3: if they had the bubble in Orlando, they went eight
Speaker 3: to zero in the bubble. Even though he didn't make
Speaker 3: the playoffs, Chris Paul saw them and said, that's a
Speaker 3: team I want to be a part of and engineered
Speaker 3: a Trey to get to Phoenix. But the team, the
Speaker 3: core of the team was built through the draft and
Speaker 3: after that especially after Mattshpia bought the team. They just
Speaker 3: stopped drafting. They just started trading the picks and trying
Speaker 3: to get instantaneous improvement with veteran players. Those veteran players
Speaker 3: didn't work, and now they can't rescue themselves through the draft.
Speaker 3: This is a team that actually drafted very well, built
Speaker 3: a championship contending team through the draft, and has now
Speaker 3: gotten in a situation where even if they want to rebuild,
Speaker 3: rebuilding through the draft is going to They don't have
Speaker 3: any picks. They don't control their picks. So they really
Speaker 3: are in a situation of their own making. And it'd
Speaker 3: be one thing if they were in the middle or
Speaker 3: at the bottom, and they led to the situation they
Speaker 3: were at the top and they did this. Now, if
Speaker 3: Matti Ishpia was here and he was defending himself, what
Speaker 3: he would say is, well, you're talking about twenty twenty one.
Speaker 3: You're talking about twenty twenty two when I made the
Speaker 3: Durant trade. You know the team wasn't performing well. That
Speaker 3: you're talking talking about a you're talking about a former
Speaker 3: version of the team, And that's a fair thing, but
Speaker 3: I know that taking the tools away from the decision
Speaker 3: makers and how they built the team, which is the
Speaker 3: draft I think is a mistake.
Speaker 1: Last question on this particular subject. You're Kevin Durant, where
Speaker 1: would you possibly want to go? You're the Phoenix Suns.
Speaker 1: What team are you coveting will take him because of
Speaker 1: the assets you can get in return for his services?
Speaker 1: How do you answer it?
Speaker 3: Before I answer this, I just want to say it's
Speaker 3: going to be hard to read the Durant situation until
Speaker 3: we see the playoffs play out, because, for example, you
Speaker 3: could see a team surprise lose in the first or
Speaker 3: second round, and wake up in mid May and say
Speaker 3: we're Kevin Durant away from winning it, and so the
Speaker 3: market for him in a month could be different than now.
Speaker 3: So that's my precursor. I do think the concept of
Speaker 3: the Knicks is an interesting one in my opinion. I've
Speaker 3: never understood why Kevin Durant didn't go to the Knicks
Speaker 3: in twenty nineteen instead went to the Nets. I get
Speaker 3: what they were building in Brooklyn was compelling. I have
Speaker 3: heard what he said about that. I don't understand why
Speaker 3: you wouldn't go to the Knicks, and I am not
Speaker 3: going to assume or guess what Kevin has thought about that,
Speaker 3: the fact that the you know, the Knicks, as you
Speaker 3: know stephen A, they're probably not headed for a great postseason.
Speaker 3: They've had a very good regular season, they won fifty games,
Speaker 3: They've got some really good pieces. They have been slacked
Speaker 3: by the teams ahead of them in the league, not
Speaker 3: even schalect. They have been totally washed out. They have
Speaker 3: no wins over any of the teams better than them
Speaker 3: in the league essentially, and so they have some pieces
Speaker 3: that they could offer for Durant. Now, I'm not gonna
Speaker 3: make any assumptions here because that's how you get out
Speaker 3: over your skis. And you got to see how this
Speaker 3: the Knicks. Maybe the Knicks will surprise us in the
Speaker 3: playof But Durant has on the record with Draymond Green saying,
Speaker 3: I want to control my destiny.
Speaker 1: Yep, he has control.
Speaker 3: Now.
Speaker 1: Yeah, the bottom line is he's lost. He's lost most
Speaker 1: of the control, or at least he should because they
Speaker 1: haven't won. Bottom line, no way to slice it. I mean,
Speaker 1: he's been swept twice. He's been out in the first
Speaker 1: round and then went to the semi finals about one
Speaker 1: time over the last five years. That's what his career
Speaker 1: has been since he was just since he departed and
Speaker 1: went to Brooklyn. I mean, there's just no other way
Speaker 1: around it. Let me transition to New Orleans right now,
Speaker 1: because the Pelicans have fired their president of the basketball operations,
Speaker 1: David Griffin. In six seasons, the team's made the playoffs
Speaker 1: twice but never won a series. I blame obviously Zion
Speaker 1: Williamson from the standpoint of his lack of availability. I'm
Speaker 1: just looking at his numbers here, Windy. In six seasons
Speaker 1: in the NBA he arrived in twenty nineteen twenty twenty season,
Speaker 1: he's played thirty games, or less than four of them.
Speaker 1: He missed the entire twenty twenty one to twenty twenty
Speaker 1: two season, all right, we know that due to his injuries.
Speaker 1: But he played twenty four games as a rookie, twenty
Speaker 1: nine games the year after missing the entire season in
Speaker 1: twenty twenty two to twenty twenty three, and initia he's
Speaker 1: only played thirty games. Lack of availability. Bottom line, I
Speaker 1: think if he's available, he's a career twenty four point
Speaker 1: per game scorer or so. I think if he's available,
Speaker 1: David Griffin probably still has his job. Your thoughts.
Speaker 3: I agree absolutely, And David Griffin invested in him. You know,
Speaker 3: he gave him a contract that was protective that they
Speaker 3: could waive him right now, not all many money, but
Speaker 3: ultimately David Griffin built the team around him. And you
Speaker 3: know there were three players like, look, if you were
Speaker 3: defending David Griffin again, if you were David Griffin's agent,
Speaker 3: you would say, well, how do you fairly assessed a
Speaker 3: player who's always injured. But they did do a couple
Speaker 3: of things around him that didn't work. Number One, they
Speaker 3: traded for Dejonte Murray this year. They paid up a
Speaker 3: pretty penny for de Jontay Murray. Now he tours Achilles,
Speaker 3: but before he tore's Achilles, it was not going well.
Speaker 3: He traded for and then extended the contract of CJ McCollum.
Speaker 3: CJ McCollum is a quality player and excellent person to
Speaker 3: have in the locker room, but has not been a
Speaker 3: difference making player. And he you know, you can blame
Speaker 3: one side or the other. But the relationship they had
Speaker 3: with Brandon Ingram, who was a core player for them,
Speaker 3: went south. He wanted out of there and they ended
Speaker 3: up having to trade him. The return on that trade
Speaker 3: is not ideal. We'll see there's still draft picks out
Speaker 3: there could happen, but the direction of the talent inflow
Speaker 3: and the talent outflow and what was thriving there and
Speaker 3: what was not thriving was not ideal. There were these
Speaker 3: brief flashes over the last couple of years where the
Speaker 3: Pelicans were all together and they looked really good, and
Speaker 3: there was these stretches where you said, oh, now I
Speaker 3: see the vision, but those didn't last. It would not
Speaker 3: have surprised me if David Griffin was given one more year,
Speaker 3: but it would only have been one more year, and
Speaker 3: so he got unlucky. But he also made some choices
Speaker 3: that didn't work out.
Speaker 1: Last question before I take a quick break. Surprised at
Speaker 1: all when it comes to the Philadelphia seventy six ers
Speaker 1: that both Daryl Morey and head coach Nick Nurse are
Speaker 1: retained after this disastrous season. I got no problem with
Speaker 1: Nick Nurse staying on board. This was not his fault.
Speaker 1: He didn't have a team to coach. Would embiid out
Speaker 1: with Paul George ultimately out. But Daryl Morey, who I
Speaker 1: like as a person, I take no joy in saying this,
Speaker 1: But I was shocked that he was going to be
Speaker 1: retained by the Philadelphia seventy six ers. What about you.
Speaker 3: I was mildly surprised, but I found out I heard
Speaker 3: that ownership under you know, ownership was on board and
Speaker 3: agreed with and indoors signed off whatever you want to
Speaker 3: call it. With the moves that they made last year,
Speaker 3: and the two big ones are obviously signing Paul George
Speaker 3: and extending Joel Embiid, you know, Josh Harris, David Blitzer.
Speaker 3: It was like Darryl Moray went to them and said,
Speaker 3: this is what we have to do, no doubt we
Speaker 3: got to do it, and they disagreed, they were on
Speaker 3: board with it. So I think they are giving him
Speaker 3: the grace that this was a terrible year in terms
Speaker 3: of injury and misfortune. But what I would say to
Speaker 3: both Darryl and Nick is you have no margin freer
Speaker 3: now if next year isn't an excellent year, you're gonna
Speaker 3: that's probably I would say that the hottest seats in
Speaker 3: the NBA right now looking into next year. We got
Speaker 3: to see how this season ends, But right now the
Speaker 3: hottest seats in the league are probably Daryl Moray and
Speaker 3: Nick Nurse.
Speaker 1: I really should say it just Darryl Moray, but I
Speaker 1: know that Nick Nurse is the guy he picks, so
Speaker 1: I guess they come with it. Because that's why I
Speaker 1: think Willie Green's going to be out of a job
Speaker 1: because you got rid of David Griffin in New Orleans,
Speaker 1: and obviously the next guy that succeeds him is going
Speaker 1: to want to have his own coach, his own guy
Speaker 1: in there. Stay right there, Wendy, we'd be back. I
Speaker 1: gotta pay some bills. Don't go anywhere. It's the stephen A.
Speaker 1: Smith Show right here with my man Brian went to
Speaker 1: us to talk about the NBA play In matchups up next.
Speaker 1: Don't go away, all right, folks, I need you all
Speaker 1: to stop what you're doing and listen up. You know
Speaker 1: I love this time of year, right The NBA play
Speaker 1: In Tournament is set to begin this week, and with
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Speaker 1: I'll give you my picks for tomorrow night's game between
Speaker 1: Atlanta Hawks and the Orlando Magic. So let's get right
Speaker 1: to it all right. First up, will Atlanta's Tray Young
Speaker 1: score more or less than twenty seven and a half points?
Speaker 1: It's ice Tray, It's who he is, this is his
Speaker 1: time of year. I'm going with more. Next up, follow
Speaker 1: Ban Carro of the Orlando Magics. Will he score more
Speaker 1: or less than twenty nine and a half points. I'm
Speaker 1: gonna say more because I think he's a stud. If
Speaker 1: he had been fully healthy this year and Orlando wouldn't
Speaker 1: be in a player, and they'd be one of the
Speaker 1: top six seeds in the Eastern Conference easily. As far
Speaker 1: as I'm concerned, I love Bean Carroll. That brother is
Speaker 1: the real deal. Make no mistake about it. I'm gonna
Speaker 1: go with more on this next up, Will the Atlanta
Speaker 1: Hawks on yek ge A Gungwu score more or less
Speaker 1: than fourteen and a half points, I'm gonna go with less.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna go with less. I don't know why, honestly,
Speaker 1: because Orlando could be suspect from time to time. But
Speaker 1: I'm still gonna go with less. And finally, will the
Speaker 1: Magic's Franz Wagner score more or less than twenty five points?
Speaker 1: Even though I know he's more than capable of scoring more.
Speaker 1: I think Bean Carroll gonna eat up so much of
Speaker 1: the offense. I'm gonna go with less on this one
Speaker 1: for Wagner. So there you have it, Young Ben Carrol, Congo,
Speaker 1: Wagner more and young more on Bean Carrol, less on
Speaker 1: a Congo and on Wogner. Rather. That's it. That's all
Speaker 1: I got to say. Help you love it to stephen
Speaker 1: A Prospects in the house, it's Tom Yeah, y'all's tom
Speaker 1: of Year. Welcome back to Steven A. Smithshow. My man
Speaker 1: Brian wind Toss, one of the ultimate NBA insiders right
Speaker 1: here with yours truly right here on the Stephen A.
Speaker 1: Smith Show of the Digital It was a YouTube and
Speaker 1: of course iHeart radio. Let's get to the Western Conference playoffs.
Speaker 1: The Clippers in the Warrior season came down to a
Speaker 1: battle to stay out of the play in and the
Speaker 1: Warriors lost. What do you make of it and what
Speaker 1: kind of position do you believe that puts the Warriors
Speaker 1: in in terms of living up to Draymond Green's guarantee
Speaker 1: that the Golden State Warriors are going to win the
Speaker 1: NBA Championship.
Speaker 3: Well, in theory, they haven't really lost anything. They get
Speaker 3: a victory over Memphis, who frankly has not delivered many
Speaker 3: impressive victories in the second half of the season. That said,
Speaker 3: it's a one off playoff game, and the Warriors have
Speaker 3: not done well in the playing at all since a
Speaker 3: couple of times they've been in it. They still are
Speaker 3: in the playoffs. They get a team in Houston that
Speaker 3: will be a challenge. Who beat them a couple of
Speaker 3: maybe the week and a half ago, but they You know,
Speaker 3: the difference between the number two see the number seven
Speaker 3: seed in the West is negligible between those teams. What
Speaker 3: I would say is they lost three of the last
Speaker 3: five games coming in yeah, and and and at home.
Speaker 3: These were home games. And now they've got Steph with
Speaker 3: a thumb injury. They got Jimmy Butler with a thigh contusion,
Speaker 3: and he played forty eight minutes. And you're already got
Speaker 3: an older team, that's a smaller team, so you're you're
Speaker 3: asking them to play almost down the line with bigger guys,
Speaker 3: and you're now wearing on them a little bit. I'm
Speaker 3: not sure you gave yourself the best chance to succeed.
Speaker 3: I will say Jimmy Butler has routine been amazing in
Speaker 3: single elimination situations. This is why they traded for him
Speaker 3: for this game. Even though he's banged up and he
Speaker 3: just played all those minutes, I would expect him to
Speaker 3: be great on Tuesday Night. My faith in the Warriors
Speaker 3: has been a little shaking with the way they finished, though.
Speaker 3: You know, they went nineteen and two during that stretch
Speaker 3: when Stephan and Jimmy were in the lineup together. You
Speaker 3: and I talked about him a lot in there, and
Speaker 3: then they after all that, they still didn't get what
Speaker 3: their goal was, which is to get a top six seed.
Speaker 3: And the way they were out played on their home
Speaker 3: court in basically a vitally important game against the Clippers,
Speaker 3: it was worrisome. And so I take nothing off the table,
Speaker 3: but my confidence in him has definitely been shaken.
Speaker 1: Let me ask you this question when he puts you
Speaker 1: somewhat on the spot. But my brother, if you're the
Speaker 1: Golden State Warriors, which should you have preferred this play
Speaker 1: in where you're going up against Memphis. Ultimately, if you
Speaker 1: beat them, you're the seventh seed and you get Hughes
Speaker 1: the in the first round, or you win yesterday and
Speaker 1: you're the sixth seed and it's the Lakers you draw
Speaker 1: in the first round. Which one should the Warriors have preferred?
Speaker 3: Well, if they beat the Grizzlies handily, or you know,
Speaker 3: have it easy in a victory where nobody else gets
Speaker 3: hurt and they don't have to play three overtimes or something.
Speaker 3: You could look in the mirror and say it's not
Speaker 3: the worst situation because you still get five days off,
Speaker 3: for at least four days off between now and the
Speaker 3: start of the playoffs, you can rest up and you
Speaker 3: get a team that is impressive defensively but not experienced,
Speaker 3: and you would have an experienced edge over them. And
Speaker 3: the one thing I would say about Golden State is
Speaker 3: I don't doubt that Jimmy Butler or Steph Curry or
Speaker 3: Draymond Green can go into a road arena and win.
Speaker 3: The Lakers had a lot of success against the Warriors
Speaker 3: this year. Now the last time they played, the Warriors
Speaker 3: did get them. But the Lakers are an awesome home team.
Speaker 3: They've been an awesome home team throughout the year. The
Speaker 3: reason the Lakers are the three seed is because they
Speaker 3: were so good on their home court, specifically against the
Speaker 3: West teams. They just absolutely are a different team on
Speaker 3: their home court. And when you think about the challenge
Speaker 3: of dealing with Luca and all everything that comes with them,
Speaker 3: and we've seen Luca be a difference making player and
Speaker 3: playoff series, we know Lebron can still be Yes. Stephen Ah,
Speaker 3: I think you're a if you're a Warrior, you're not devastated,
Speaker 3: but you got to handle your business on Tuesday. You've
Speaker 3: got to because the last thing you want to do
Speaker 3: is have to play another game where you're facing elimination
Speaker 3: and then you got a quick turnaround and then you're
Speaker 3: looking at the thunder, and so yeah, I get it.
Speaker 3: But I'm also a little bit cautious to make assumptions
Speaker 3: in this Western.
Speaker 1: Conference transition into the Los Angeles Clippers. They now face
Speaker 1: the Nuggets, who fired head coach Mike Malone just last week.
Speaker 1: I'm wondering what can we expect. But i got to
Speaker 1: tell you something. I've watched the Clippers over the last
Speaker 1: twenty one games at eighteen and three, and they've got
Speaker 1: the best offense in basketball. And in that span, that
Speaker 1: best offense has been led by Kawhi Leonnet. We know
Speaker 1: what kind of year James Harden has had. We know
Speaker 1: that Norman Powell gives you a third option. I mean,
Speaker 1: when we talk about Austin Reeves in LA with Lebron
Speaker 1: and Doncs, look at what this brother, Norman Powell has
Speaker 1: been with James Harden and Kawhi Leonard. After Kawhi Leonon
Speaker 1: missed first thirty four games of the year, So I'm
Speaker 1: looking at Kawhi Leonnard since March, averaging twenty five on
Speaker 1: better than fifty two percent, shooting forty three percent from
Speaker 1: three point range. This brother looks terrific. And suddenly you're
Speaker 1: looking at the Los Angeles Clippers and you got people
Speaker 1: speculating this is the second best team in the West,
Speaker 1: not the Lakers, but the Clippers. What are your thoughts
Speaker 1: about the Clippers?
Speaker 3: Well, what an awesome showing they had going into Chase
Speaker 3: Center on Sunday facing the wrath of Steph Curry. I
Speaker 3: know Steph Currey has thumb banged up, but it wasn't
Speaker 3: like he was two for fifteen on threes. He was
Speaker 3: drilling the shots. He was hitting them with haymakers. He
Speaker 3: delivered a huge fourth quarter, absolute full dosage of a
Speaker 3: playoff Jimmy Butler who basically didn't leave the floor in
Speaker 3: that game, and the Clippers absorbed every blow and basically
Speaker 3: controlled It was the Warriors trying to get leverage the
Speaker 3: whole game, including throughout the entire overtime. Hardin was great.
Speaker 3: You mentioned Kawhi and his stats. I mean, he has
Speaker 3: never shot the ball better than he did down the
Speaker 3: such of this season, and you could say, well, that
Speaker 3: doesn't mean anything if he can't make it through the
Speaker 3: playoff series. I agree, and you know who else agrees?
Speaker 3: The Clippers. I spent some time with them last week
Speaker 3: and their response was, Hey, we're doing great. We just
Speaker 3: got to keep Kawhi healthy. Everything we're doing is trying
Speaker 3: to keep Kawhi healthy. Stephen A. They played them in
Speaker 3: a back to back the second to last week of
Speaker 3: the season, then on the game on Sunday, they played
Speaker 3: them forty seven minutes. Yes, now, they don't do that
Speaker 3: unless they feel like they got He's in a good player.
Speaker 3: He looks great, I know, and sometimes he can be
Speaker 3: in a good place. He can can go left at
Speaker 3: the drop of a hat. That's the Kawhi Leonard experience.
Speaker 3: But they're gonna try to They're gonna try to ride it.
Speaker 3: You know, when he won that title in Toronto, that
Speaker 3: jump shot was so calibrated. You know, people talk about
Speaker 3: and have seen the Steph Curry shooting displays and warm
Speaker 3: ups where the dude makes eighty five consecutive shots. I'm
Speaker 3: telling you, I remember watching Kawhi before the finals games
Speaker 3: in twenty nineteen. He would make sixty five jumpers in
Speaker 3: from the mid range in a row. They would have when.
Speaker 1: He was warming up. We saw when he was warming
Speaker 1: up in Toronto against Milwaukee in the conference finals. We
Speaker 1: saw him.
Speaker 3: You and I were standing there in Toronto getting ready
Speaker 3: to do TV and they were exhausting the workout guys.
Speaker 3: They had multiple workout guys, not in a practice day
Speaker 3: before a game. That's what he looks like right now.
Speaker 3: That's where his jumper is calibrated. So look, in all honesty,
Speaker 3: so what.
Speaker 1: Do we say. What are we saying? You say, you
Speaker 1: got them going to the conference finals with the let's
Speaker 1: tighten this up. You try, you got them go in
Speaker 1: conference finals.
Speaker 3: I'm saying, whoever is healthier in this series between Jamal
Speaker 3: Murray and Kawhi Leonard that might be the difference if
Speaker 3: Kawhi Leonard can make it through a first round playoff series.
Speaker 3: Is by the way he is not the last two
Speaker 3: times he's played. It's not like a conspiracy theory or something.
Speaker 3: If Jamal Murray, you know who's better and healthier. Because
Speaker 3: when Kawhi is playing this way, the Clippers aren't a
Speaker 3: five seed. I don't know what their seed is. They
Speaker 3: ain't won, but they ain't five. And when Jamal Murray
Speaker 3: is playing on the top of his game, the Nuggets
Speaker 3: are very very hard to beat. Four out of seven now,
Speaker 3: You've got Oklahoma City on that side of the bracket.
Speaker 3: You know how I feel about them. I am gonna
Speaker 3: believe that they can win the West. But I am
Speaker 3: telling you this looks like Kawhi Leonard of twenty nineteen today.
Speaker 3: I don't know about tomorrow. I don't know in ten days. Today,
Speaker 3: that's what he looks like.
Speaker 1: Let's not forget to give James Harden some love too,
Speaker 1: because he's been terrific as well. Let me transition to
Speaker 1: the Lakers Minnesota. Rudy Gober is a liability. We know.
Speaker 1: Anytime Luca Luca Donkeys can pull up in a cab,
Speaker 1: Rudy Gober is a is already messed up. Okay, I
Speaker 1: mean that's how it is. That's how bad it is
Speaker 1: for Rudy Gober when he sees Luka Doncik. Having said
Speaker 1: all of that, now Donci's got Lebron James as a teammate.
Speaker 1: Austin Reeves has really elevated his level of play. Jj Reddick,
Speaker 1: as far as I'm concerned, as a candidate for Coach
Speaker 1: of the Year, I think he's done an outstanding job
Speaker 1: along with his staff. I think Minnesota's lone shot to
Speaker 1: win this series is Anthony Edwards has to be the
Speaker 1: biggest star on the stage. And here's the thing, even
Speaker 1: with Luca and Lebron, I think he's capable of doing it.
Speaker 1: I still don't think it'd be enough for them to
Speaker 1: win the series. I got the Lakers winning the series.
Speaker 1: But do I think that Anthony Edwards has it in
Speaker 1: him to potentially be the biggest star on the stage
Speaker 1: even with Lebron and Luca. I think he could do it.
Speaker 1: What do you say to that.
Speaker 3: I want to watch him try. I want to watch
Speaker 3: him try so so. Yet, Luca torched the Wolves last
Speaker 3: year when he was on the Mavericks. I'm talking thirty three,
Speaker 3: ten to eight in that series, especially in the games
Speaker 3: in Minnesota. He didn't care about being in Minnesota. He
Speaker 3: dropped a dagger on those fans repeatedly. The thing about
Speaker 3: this matchup that I think is interesting is Lebron has
Speaker 3: to We have seen Lebron can still be a dominating player,
Speaker 3: but we've also seen he's got to kind of moderate
Speaker 3: his energy. The advantage that he's had since Luca has
Speaker 3: been back because it's sometimes he's able to moderate his
Speaker 3: energy and then hit the gas in the fourth quarter
Speaker 3: if the war, if the Wolves are gonna play the
Speaker 3: way that they like to play, there is opportunities for
Speaker 3: Lebron to rest on defense. They'll put him on Rudy
Speaker 3: Gobert because he's not afraid to fight him in the post,
Speaker 3: and he doesn't have to run around on the perimeter.
Speaker 3: He'll have to be in some screen and roll action.
Speaker 3: They'll put him on Jade McDaniels, who you know has
Speaker 3: momentary hit shots, but like Lebron, will be able to
Speaker 3: come off of him.
Speaker 1: Don't put Jada McDaniels on him. Don't put Jada McDaniels
Speaker 1: on him. Lebron shoots fifty five percent when guarded by
Speaker 1: Jada McDaniels.
Speaker 3: That's a great stat I'm glad you just educated me
Speaker 3: on it. So I think this matchup is somewhat I
Speaker 3: don't think anybody feels great in the West, but I
Speaker 3: think this matchup is somewhat comfortable for the Lakers, at
Speaker 3: least in the way they can align. Now, the curve
Speaker 3: ball is ants because that guy could come in to
Speaker 3: Crypto and drop fifty. I wouldn't doubt it for a second.
Speaker 3: And so that's why I want to see The Wolves
Speaker 3: are not as good defensively as they were a year ago,
Speaker 3: but they are better offensively, and you can trace that
Speaker 3: to Ants being and the guy by the way, he
Speaker 3: hit seven threes on Sunday and became the season leader
Speaker 3: in most three pointers made. The guy is a verified
Speaker 3: weapon from three point range. This guy, he gets to
Speaker 3: go from outside. He can beat you with that as well.
Speaker 1: Let me ask you this real quick, because I got
Speaker 1: to get ready to go Nick's pistons. I'm not high
Speaker 1: on my Knicks. I'm worried because they don't have the
Speaker 1: same grit that they've had in years past. That's problematic
Speaker 1: for me, Wendy. If they had Hartenstein, if they had Daunte,
Speaker 1: if they had Julius, a healthy Julius, I think that
Speaker 1: team is better than this next team. I think this
Speaker 1: team is more talented, particularly offensively, but they don't have
Speaker 1: the same grit. And because they don't have that, I'm
Speaker 1: worried about them in the first round against Detroit. I
Speaker 1: give them no shot against Boston in the second round
Speaker 1: if they were to get there. I'm worried about them
Speaker 1: losing the Detroit business. And I'm worried about Tom Thibodeaux
Speaker 1: potentially being on a hot seat even after a successful season,
Speaker 1: because he didn't the work and developed the depth that
Speaker 1: the Knicks would need to utilize, and so they don't
Speaker 1: run their starters into the ground. I'll give you the
Speaker 1: last common about the Knicks in this series against Detroit,
Speaker 1: real quick, go ahead.
Speaker 3: You said a lot there, You said a lot there,
Speaker 3: and it's good insight. You see, the Pistons are not
Speaker 3: selling the people that don't live within certain miles of
Speaker 3: there of Detroit. They're afraid of the Knicks fans coming
Speaker 3: in like they did to Philadelphia last year.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 3: Let's just I agree with you that the Knicks have
Speaker 3: some problems. However, the Knicks are still a good team.
Speaker 3: I know that the expectations for them were very high,
Speaker 3: and that they there's two teams in front of them
Speaker 3: that won in the mid sixties, and that there's frustration
Speaker 3: amongst Knicks fans that they weren't able to match the
Speaker 3: Cavs and the Celtics. I still will tell you I
Speaker 3: think the Knicks are a very good team. I think
Speaker 3: they've got a lot going for them. I do not
Speaker 3: think that they are as good as the three teams
Speaker 3: that won sixty games this year. Because I'm gonna include
Speaker 3: the thunder who also swept them this year. I think
Speaker 3: the Knicks will pleasantly surprise in this first round. I
Speaker 3: respect the Pistons. I also think that they have almost
Speaker 3: they have very little experience at this level and and
Speaker 3: of their core guys like you know, I know Tobias
Speaker 3: Sarris and Malik Beasley have played big games before. I
Speaker 3: know Tim Hardaway Junior's play games. But I'm talking about
Speaker 3: you know, you're asking, you know, Kate Cunningham and stuff
Speaker 3: to go into the guard and maybe he will, maybe
Speaker 3: all maybe in ten days again, I'll think that he can.
Speaker 3: I think the Knicks are I think the Knicks have
Speaker 3: a lot going for them. I think their weaknesses are big.
Speaker 3: I think they've got a lot going for them. I
Speaker 3: think that'll win out in this series. But I think
Speaker 3: you may sweat. I think there could be some cursing
Speaker 3: emanating from you as you're in here watching watching games
Speaker 3: over the next week and a half.
Speaker 1: Appreciate you, Wendy Man. Thanks a lot for the knowledge.
Speaker 1: My man got a lot of stuff to get into
Speaker 1: these NBA playing games and ultimately the NBA playoffs. I'm
Speaker 1: most exciting Tom of that you. I'm gonna look forward
Speaker 1: to talking about it. You take care of yourself. I'll
Speaker 1: catch up with you later. Got to take a break.
Speaker 1: But Lord a mercy, please don't go away. Because somebody
Speaker 1: got all up in lebron James, all up in them
Speaker 1: and his name was not Steven A. Smith, not at all.
Speaker 1: It was a hall of fame with significant credentials. Wait
Speaker 1: till you hear it. You hear what he had to say,
Speaker 1: Trust me, you don't want to miss it. More to
Speaker 1: Steven A. Smith Show coming in your way in a
Speaker 1: minute after I pay these bills. All right, everybody, listen
Speaker 1: up with all the big time sports action that's happening
Speaker 1: each and every day, The Stephen A. Smith Show wants
Speaker 1: to make sure you are taking advantage of it all.
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Speaker 1: in the NBA for a quick topic that raised a
Speaker 1: few eyebrows this weekend. That's because Hall of Famer Isaiah
Speaker 1: Thomas called out the one and only Lebron James himself
Speaker 1: for being quote unprofessional end quote for wearing no shirt
Speaker 1: during early shooter round on Friday. This is what Isaiah
Speaker 1: Thomas had to say about Lebron while NBATV role the
Speaker 1: warm up video. Y'all gotta see this. Take a look
Speaker 1: at this. I just totally one hundred percent object to this.
Speaker 1: If I was a GM or coach, I would never
Speaker 1: let one of my players walk out on the floor
Speaker 1: looking like this. The professionalism in our NBA league is
Speaker 1: the minute so much. I like Lebron, but to walk
Speaker 1: out on the floor before a game with no shirt
Speaker 1: on and shoot. I mean, come on, man, where are
Speaker 1: we at? What we doing? Adam Silver, If you want
Speaker 1: to find somebody, find that, put a fine on that end.
Speaker 1: Quote Isaiah Thomas is one hundred percent right. It's just
Speaker 1: a bad example to use because you see, contrary to
Speaker 1: what some of you trolls out there want to instigate
Speaker 1: and fabricate and start up. When it's talking about Steven A.
Speaker 1: Smith and Lebron, I told y'all, I'm gonna always be fair.
Speaker 1: I'm going to do my job regardless of how we
Speaker 1: feel about each other, I'm going to do my job.
Speaker 1: Lebron James is not the greatest example to use because
Speaker 1: ninety nine percent of the time the brother epitomizes professionalism.
Speaker 1: Lebron James is usually dressed up. Lebron James carries the
Speaker 1: mantle and conducts himself with the level of decorum and professionalism.
Speaker 1: Media interviews, post games, availability stuff like that. Lebron James
Speaker 1: shows up big events representing the NBA brand. It's Lebron
Speaker 1: James you lean on. So to mention a word unprofessionalism
Speaker 1: and him with a broad brush would be incredibly unfair.
Speaker 1: But if you're isolating an incident which Isaiah Thomas dead,
Speaker 1: then it's more than fair. And the reason why it's
Speaker 1: more than fair is because you're thinking about what's going
Speaker 1: on in a moment. You're a man out there with
Speaker 1: no uniform, no T shirt on, in a professional environment.
Speaker 1: You're not in a closed door practice. You're out at
Speaker 1: the arena where fans have already been allowed to enter
Speaker 1: the arena. It is a professional environment. But most importantly,
Speaker 1: it's about who this critique is coming from, y'all? Do
Speaker 1: understand at that champion that is Isaiah Thomas was also
Speaker 1: the president of the Players Association for years, right? Did
Speaker 1: y'all know that when it came to diversity in the
Speaker 1: sport covering the NBA, that one of the biggest people
Speaker 1: who spearheaded that movement was Isaiah Thomas who brought it
Speaker 1: up and made it an issue during collective bargaining negotiations
Speaker 1: in the eighties. Did you know that because he did it,
Speaker 1: so people like me and Michael Wilbon and various others
Speaker 1: who have been blessed and fortunate enough to cover the
Speaker 1: NBA for years, including women. By the way, Isaiah Thomas
Speaker 1: was one of the people who spearheaded that movement, and
Speaker 1: when they talk about the level of professionalism law before
Speaker 1: David Stern in the aftermath of the brawl at the
Speaker 1: Palace in Auburn Hills in two thousand and four, so
Speaker 1: implemented a dress code law. Before that, it was Isaiah
Speaker 1: Thomas who was a leader amongst many the Michael Jordans
Speaker 1: of the world, the allowance on mornings of the world
Speaker 1: the shack deesel go back and look at the footage.
Speaker 1: Did you see how they came to a game? Did
Speaker 1: you see how they were dressed. Do y'all know who
Speaker 1: the most popular coaches were at that time? Pat Riley,
Speaker 1: remember how he dressed? Chuck Daly, Daddy Rich as my
Speaker 1: man John Sally would call him. Remember how he dressed?
Speaker 1: Everybody would would would bow to the altar of Chuck Daly.
Speaker 2: God Rest the soul. Larry Brown helped upgrade my wardrobe.
Speaker 2: I'll tell y' all that story one day, if I
Speaker 2: haven't already, remember.
Speaker 1: How coaches were dressed. You ain't see coach dress. Coaches
Speaker 1: dressed in warm up suits and sneakers. There's a level
Speaker 1: of professionalism that came associated with the sport, and Isaiah
Speaker 1: Thomas didn't escape mentioned in that as well. When somebody
Speaker 1: like whether it was Jalen Rose or whatever else, was
Speaker 1: on the set with him and when they said, yo,
Speaker 1: what about the coaches, Isaiah said them too. So he's
Speaker 1: talking about a professionalism and a standard that has been ignored.
Speaker 1: Now in terms of the media, I think it's safe
Speaker 1: to say that if anybody had the right to speak
Speaker 1: on this issue, it would be made in case y'all
Speaker 1: didn't notice your brother dresses quite nicely. Matter of fact,
Speaker 1: I gotta talk to my damn nephew Josh and how
Speaker 1: he been dressing. He gotta upgrade his wardrobe because there's
Speaker 1: a standard that comes across associated with your boy, Stephen.
Speaker 1: They you don't believe me as first take. It ain't
Speaker 1: no accident. I might say it with a smile on
Speaker 1: my face, half jokingly, but I'm all so serious. Oh
Speaker 1: you're gonna dress on first take. You ain't gonna just
Speaker 1: show up dressed in the old kind of way. He
Speaker 1: ain't going down like that. Professionalism matters. This was a
Speaker 1: rare moment when we could look at a lebron and
Speaker 1: somebody like Isaiah Thomas would ever dream of of the
Speaker 1: word unprofessional when it came to him, But it doesn't
Speaker 1: mean that particular critique wasn't appropriate for that one time.
Speaker 1: It's worth mentioning it, playing and simple. Coming up, the
Speaker 1: WNBA Draft is tonight. Paige Beckers is expected to be
Speaker 1: the number one overall pick, but she also has another
Speaker 1: deal in the works. I'll get into that, but first,
Speaker 1: the University of Tennessee is now looking for a starting
Speaker 1: quarterback after nil contract negotiations broke down over four million
Speaker 1: dollars four mills. We'll talk about that and then some
Speaker 1: up next. This is Steven A. Smith Show in the house,
Speaker 1: back with more in a minute. Back here with the
Speaker 1: Steven Date Smith Show, let's get to some quick hitters
Speaker 1: from the world of sports. Did y'all hear about what
Speaker 1: happened to the University of Tennessee this past weekend? The
Speaker 1: university has moved on from starting quarterback Nico Iamalava. Nico
Speaker 1: was a no show at practice on Friday while it
Speaker 1: was nil contract negotiations with the university were ongoing. University
Speaker 1: was prepared to pay Nico two point four million dollars,
Speaker 1: but apparently representatives for Niko wanted four million dollars head
Speaker 1: coach Josh for his hypel had this to say about Nico. Quote,
Speaker 1: this program has been around for a long time. There
Speaker 1: are a lot of great coaches, a lot of great
Speaker 1: players who came before that laid the cornerstone pieces, the legacy,
Speaker 1: the tradition that is Tennessee football. It's going to be
Speaker 1: around a long time after I'm gone and after they
Speaker 1: are gone. End quote. On Friday night, Iamalava notified the
Speaker 1: team that he was in the process of filling out
Speaker 1: his paperwork and planning to enter the transfer portal when
Speaker 1: it opens up this Wednesday. This is a bad look
Speaker 1: for this kid. Let's get that out the way first.
Speaker 1: It's a bad look for the kid. It's not entirely
Speaker 1: his faulty. His kid, they say supporters, reportedly his fathers,
Speaker 1: and obviously he's got an agent. We all listen to
Speaker 1: our representatives, we all listen to our lawyers, but the
Speaker 1: adults in the room ultimately have to concede and acquiesce
Speaker 1: to what the client wants. In this case, it would
Speaker 1: be Iamalava. When you look at Nico, he's a kid,
Speaker 1: he's a young man, and in all likelihood he's following
Speaker 1: his father's advice. And they're going from there. The NCAA
Speaker 1: is the ultimate corporate, of course, because they've been exploiting
Speaker 1: kids for ages. This is why they ultimately had to
Speaker 1: acquiesce to things like nil deals and transfer portals and
Speaker 1: what have you, because they utilized the system to their
Speaker 1: own benefit at the expense of kids for decades, and
Speaker 1: now they're receiving their come uppens. But along the way,
Speaker 1: we also have to recognize the losses we've suffered. Mike Krzyzewski,
Speaker 1: although he was in his mid seventies, there's no doubt
Speaker 1: that the these kind of things played the role in
Speaker 1: his willingness to walk away from the game. The same
Speaker 1: could be said for Roy Williams at the University of
Speaker 1: North Carolina and their basketball program. It most certainly could
Speaker 1: be said said. I can speak directly to this because
Speaker 1: Nick Saban told me himself as to what played the
Speaker 1: role in his deciding to walk away from college football
Speaker 1: as the greatest coach the game has ever seen, along
Speaker 1: with various others. It's also why you know, folks you
Speaker 1: know didn't want to participate in it. When you think
Speaker 1: about Dabbosweeney at Clemson, why you think that this stuff
Speaker 1: is a headache for him why he never wanted to
Speaker 1: get involved in it. You have players now in colleges
Speaker 1: acting like pro athletes or acting like as if they're pros,
Speaker 1: because the system now allows it and mandates it. What
Speaker 1: it ultimately comes down to, ladies and gentlemen, is the
Speaker 1: need for a collective bargaining agreement. There are no uniform
Speaker 1: rules or regulations in college football anymore in college basketball
Speaker 1: because of the money involved, and the only way to
Speaker 1: rectify that is to have a collective bargaining agreement. And
Speaker 1: let me tell you why it's necessary. You know it's
Speaker 1: bad when a corporation like the nc DOUBLEA is begging
Speaker 1: for congressional interference, usually they run from such things. Now
Speaker 1: they're running to that because they want Congress to solve
Speaker 1: problems for them that they can't pull off themselves. So
Speaker 1: there's no doubt that the NCAA probably likes something like
Speaker 1: this going on because they know it's going to create
Speaker 1: a public uproar and as a result, elected officials are
Speaker 1: going to be clamoring to get involved. Similar to what
Speaker 1: Corey Booker, Senator Corey Booker alluded to a couple of
Speaker 1: weeks ago right here on this show, along with other
Speaker 1: elected officials. This is what the nc DOUBA wants. So
Speaker 1: if you're the players, if you're representatives of the players,
Speaker 1: if your parents, you want a collective bargaining negotiation to
Speaker 1: take place, so they are uniform rules and regulations that
Speaker 1: everybody has to follow. That's what's going to take to
Speaker 1: save the sport of college football and basketball. Without it,
Speaker 1: the support is going to die. I'm telling you that
Speaker 1: right now, because the NFL or somebody else is going
Speaker 1: to find a way to infiltrate the proceedings and take advantage,
Speaker 1: whether it's the NBA, to NFL or anybody else, because
Speaker 1: business is business. But in the end, let's not forget
Speaker 1: the most important thing in all of this. The most
Speaker 1: important thing in all of this is that this was
Speaker 1: necessary because the NCAA spent decades taking advantage of the
Speaker 1: student athlete. Yamalava is not a bad guy here, but
Speaker 1: his representatives are making him look like the bad guy
Speaker 1: because they're chasing an extra million, a million and a
Speaker 1: half dollars. His valuation was at three point one million.
Speaker 1: He's getting paid two million, around two point two million.
Speaker 1: Tennessee was willing to go as high as two point
Speaker 1: four million. His valuation was at three point one million,
Speaker 1: but he's asking for four million. So worst case scenario,
Speaker 1: we're talking about a difference of one point six million
Speaker 1: dollars a year. And that's what all of this is
Speaker 1: for taxes. Take off half that fifty percent. Come on, now,
Speaker 1: we could do better. Collective bargaining resolves this issue, getting
Speaker 1: adults in the room and negotiating a collective bargaining agreement.
Speaker 1: And the good news there is that finally, after all
Speaker 1: of these years, players will have representation. That's what the
Speaker 1: NCUBAA had denied them the opportunity to have for so long,
Speaker 1: and they got away with it. I don't want to
Speaker 1: hear about Cener, the Ted Cruz, or anybody else trying
Speaker 1: to get involved in all of this in any constellation's
Speaker 1: way whatsoever. I want to see you collectively bargain a
Speaker 1: deal with the nc DOUBLEA that doesn't require Congressional interference,
Speaker 1: because Congress clearly took the side of the NCUBA for
Speaker 1: far too long. Otherwise, the athletes wouldn't have been exposed
Speaker 1: for as long as they were exposed, or exploit it. Rather,
Speaker 1: it wouldn't have happened that long if you had done
Speaker 1: the right thing decades ago. So you know, you know,
Speaker 1: I'm alla is not the bad guy here. He just
Speaker 1: looks like it. Because you sign a contract, you want
Speaker 1: to honor it. Your quarterback shouldn't be looking to just
Speaker 1: desert your team. That's how he looks right now. But
Speaker 1: it ain't all his fault, it really isn't. It's just
Speaker 1: that he's the face of change that apparently is imminent.
Speaker 1: Now let's get to the WNBA that's preparing for the
Speaker 1: draft tonight. Paige Becker's, fresh off her national championship with Yukon,
Speaker 1: is expected to be the projected number one overall pick.
Speaker 1: But that's not the only deal Beckers is in the works.
Speaker 1: Sources told ESPA yesterday that she's also signing a three
Speaker 1: year deal with the three on three Unrivaled League. Page
Speaker 1: signed in an il deal with Unrivaled last year, which
Speaker 1: gave her equity in the league. Sources to tell the
Speaker 1: ESPN at Becker's first year of salary for the ten
Speaker 1: week Unrivaled season will exceed what she would make in
Speaker 1: four years of her WNBA rookie contract. Now, keep in
Speaker 1: mind her WNBA rookie contract was scheduled to pay her
Speaker 1: a little over seventy eight thousand. This year. The highest
Speaker 1: paid player in the WNBA is Kelsey Mitchell in Indiana,
Speaker 1: who's getting paid about two hundred and thirty nine thousand
Speaker 1: right now. Paige Beckers, they're saying, over four years she
Speaker 1: would make a little over three hundred and fifty thousand dollars,
Speaker 1: whereas in this ten week league she's scheduled to make
Speaker 1: more than that. If you all remember last year, in
Speaker 1: its first year, it was projected that the unrival league
Speaker 1: would make approximately twelve to thirteen million dollars, and they
Speaker 1: made over twenty seven million. So consider that. Pay attention
Speaker 1: to that. Now, pay attention to the brilliance of this
Speaker 1: girl's Paige Beckers, who just won a national championship, by
Speaker 1: the way, who is spectacular all season long. National Player
Speaker 1: of the Year went to Juju Watkins of USC, of course,
Speaker 1: but Paige Beckers was something sensation that went to the
Speaker 1: final four all four years of her career, got injured
Speaker 1: to an ACL, came back, overcame it, finally won a
Speaker 1: national championship and now is considered on the Mount Rushmore
Speaker 1: of Yukon basketball, which is a great, great tribute to
Speaker 1: have along with the people like that Anderson Rossi Brond,
Speaker 1: the Stewards of the world, the Mores of the world,
Speaker 1: that kind of thing. But let's get back to what
Speaker 1: the brilliance of Paige Beckers truly is. Do y'all know
Speaker 1: that she invested in the unrival League last year while
Speaker 1: she was still in college. Did you know that she
Speaker 1: has an equity stake in the Unrivaled League? Do you
Speaker 1: know that she's making money as a partner as well
Speaker 1: as a player, And on top of it all is
Speaker 1: only gonna build her profile even more so when she
Speaker 1: gets drafted and goes to the WNBA, she gonna get
Speaker 1: more money and endorsement dollars from that. Paige Becker's is
Speaker 1: doing her thing, clearly guided by the right people. She
Speaker 1: knows what the hell she's doing. Major, major props to
Speaker 1: that young lady. She's doing big things. And it ain't
Speaker 1: just Caitlin Clark now it's Paige Becker's and soon, hopefully
Speaker 1: it's gonna be Juju Watkins when she comes back from
Speaker 1: that knee tear, and she's gonna recav it too. Wishing
Speaker 1: nothing but the best for her. Let's not forget Asia Wilson,
Speaker 1: who's the best in the business right now, let's not
Speaker 1: forget her for WNBA best in the Business. Our last
Speaker 1: quick takes us to golf where history was made at
Speaker 1: the Masters yesterday as because Rory McElroy became just a
Speaker 1: sixth golfer to win all four major championships in the
Speaker 1: Masters era. McElroy joins Jeans Sarazen, Zarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player,
Speaker 1: Jack Nicholas and Tiger Woods is the only golfers to
Speaker 1: win the Masters, the US Open, the British Open and
Speaker 1: the Tour Championship. Here's the story. It's really a story
Speaker 1: about perseverance. The man was suffering an eleven year drought,
Speaker 1: came close numerous occasions, finishing the top ten at the
Speaker 1: Masters eight times over that time span, and still couldn't
Speaker 1: close the door until he finally did yesterday. It's a
Speaker 1: story of perseverance, and here's why you should love it.
Speaker 1: Never giving up, always coming back to fight the good fight,
Speaker 1: to try to strive to be all you can be.
Speaker 1: That's what Rory Rockleroy did and it paid off. He's
Speaker 1: thirty five years of age and regardless of that huge
Speaker 1: monkey that was on his back, he kept going. There's
Speaker 1: a lot of times we could look at people and
Speaker 1: we can look at their talent and we could say, hey,
Speaker 1: we just don't have it, that ability, we just don't
Speaker 1: have that greatness. But you know what we all have
Speaker 1: inside of ourselves. If we really dig deep enough, the
Speaker 1: ability to persevere, no matter how rough times get, we
Speaker 1: can somehow find our way through the maze and come
Speaker 1: out better than we were when we entered the fray.
Speaker 1: That's the lesson to steal from Rory McElroy, and major
Speaker 1: props to him for his accomplishments. That's all I wanted
Speaker 1: to say about that. Coming up, Gail King goes into
Speaker 1: space and some idiot set fire to the home of
Speaker 1: Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro. I'll get into those stories and
Speaker 1: more up next right here on a steven A. Smith Show.
Speaker 1: Back for more in a minute. Welcome back to the
Speaker 1: steven A. Smith Show. I want to get into a
Speaker 1: serious headline from the world of politics. Police in Pennsylvania
Speaker 1: have arrested a man they say broke into Governor jos
Speaker 1: Shapiro's residence early and started a fire while Shapiro and
Speaker 1: his family were sleeping. Shapiro, his wife, Laurie, their four
Speaker 1: children and another family were forced to evacuate the home,
Speaker 1: which was significantly damaged by the fire. Thankfully, no injuries
Speaker 1: were reported. Thirty eight year old Cody Balmer turned himself
Speaker 1: into police and is being held on charges that include
Speaker 1: attempted murder, aggravated arson, and terrorism. According to an affidavit,
Speaker 1: Balmer said he was angry with the governor and would
Speaker 1: have beaten him with a hammer if confronted. I'm gonna
Speaker 1: repeat that he would have beaten him with a hammer
Speaker 1: if confronted. There is a quote from the fire chief
Speaker 1: in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and he says, I have absolutely no
Speaker 1: compassion for anybody who commits such heinous crimes. Fire chief
Speaker 1: Brian Interline told The New York Post following a press
Speaker 1: conference Monday, just hours after Bamba lobbed multiple malotov cocktails
Speaker 1: in the Governor Jos Shapiro's home early Sunday morning. He said,
Speaker 1: to anybody that affects my firefighters and American citizens, you
Speaker 1: don't deserve any of the luxuries that we have here
Speaker 1: when you create such heinous acts against our own people.
Speaker 1: That's what he had to say. He said, I would
Speaker 1: hope that they send him to El Salvador for a
Speaker 1: tough crime, and absolutely I would support that one hundred percent.
Speaker 1: The fire chief continued, he has no business getting any
Speaker 1: of the luxuries that we have to offer here in
Speaker 1: the United States of America. I have to tell y'all,
Speaker 1: ladies and gentlemen, I don't disagree with a single syllable,
Speaker 1: the fire chief otter. And before I explain why, I'm
Speaker 1: going to put up this quote from Governor Josh Shapiro
Speaker 1: so you see what he had to say via tweet
Speaker 1: in the aftermath of what transpired. He said, last night,
Speaker 1: at about two am, my family and I woke up
Speaker 1: to bangs on the door from the Pennsylvania State Police
Speaker 1: after an arsonist set fire to the Governor's residence in Harrisburg.
Speaker 1: The Harrisburg Bureau of Fire was on the scene, and
Speaker 1: while they worked to put out the fire, we were
Speaker 1: evacuated for the residents safely by Pennsylvania State Police and
Speaker 1: assisted by Capitol Police. Thank god, no one was injured
Speaker 1: and the fire was extinguished. Every day we stand with
Speaker 1: the law enforcement and first responders who run towards danger
Speaker 1: to protect our communities. Last night, they did so for
Speaker 1: our family and Laurie and I are eternally grateful to
Speaker 1: them for keeping us safe at Pennsylvania State Police is
Speaker 1: on the scene leading this investigation and will keep the
Speaker 1: public updated. End quote the fire chief back to him
Speaker 1: is absolutely correct. See ladies and gentlemen, this is what
Speaker 1: I talk about when we're talking about little old me
Speaker 1: as a sports commentator being a presidential candidate. Think about
Speaker 1: the vitriol that exists on both sides of the eye.
Speaker 1: I'm not going to accuse any politician of being at
Speaker 1: fault for this heinous act. Mister Balmer should be thrown
Speaker 1: under the jail. There were children in there, to adults,
Speaker 1: a different family, and what does he say to the police.
Speaker 1: I would have beat him with a hammer if I
Speaker 1: could have. Clearly, you want to inflict violence. Why. We
Speaker 1: don't know whether this is anti Semitism or not, but
Speaker 1: there is no doubt that there will be people who
Speaker 1: are supporters of Governor jos Shapiro who will say so,
Speaker 1: and who's to say they are wrong. Anti Semitism is
Speaker 1: certainly a problem that exists in this country right now,
Speaker 1: especially in light of what's been transpiring over in Gaza
Speaker 1: and other areas with the Palestinians and Israelis. We all
Speaker 1: know what's been going on over the last year and
Speaker 1: a half or so, if not more. But here's the deal.
Speaker 1: We can't have this as a society. We can't make
Speaker 1: this okay, and the rhetoric that we spew we have
Speaker 1: to be very, very careful because of the potential impact
Speaker 1: that it has. I've often said this as a sports guy.
Speaker 1: In the end, no matter what you say outside of
Speaker 1: the actual participants whose livelihoods are directly affected, for the
Speaker 1: rest of us, it's a game. We're covering games, and
Speaker 1: we're covering the exploits of magnificent athletes that most, if
Speaker 1: not all, of us wish we could be but can't.
Speaker 1: It's just that simple. But when you're talking about politics,
Speaker 1: that's real life. When you're talking about the economy, when
Speaker 1: you're talking about inflation, when you're talking about the potential
Speaker 1: of a recession, when you're talking about the borders, when
Speaker 1: you're talking about safety in the streets, when you're talking
Speaker 1: about national security, when you're talking about taxes, when you're
Speaker 1: talking about inflation, when you're talking about health care, you're
Speaker 1: talking about real life issues. When you're doing that, you
Speaker 1: have a responsibility to make sure that you are incredibly,
Speaker 1: incredibly sensitive to the potential fallout of one's words and
Speaker 1: actions about what transpires in our nation's capital, along with
Speaker 1: our state and local governments. Now one would say that
Speaker 1: has absolutely nothing. I'm certainly not pointing the finger at
Speaker 1: Governor Shapiro. I'm simply saying the vitriol emanating from folks
Speaker 1: arrive in large part due to how folks believe their
Speaker 1: personal lives are being affected or that of their loved ones, communities, etc.
Speaker 1: Which is why to me, it's important to be moderate
Speaker 1: and centrist. Understanding that both sides don't get to get
Speaker 1: everything they want, Understanding that both sides have to engage
Speaker 1: and compromise, understand and that both sides need to be
Speaker 1: pulled from the fringes to the center. Pulled from the
Speaker 1: fringes to the center is incredibly important. Why do I
Speaker 1: say that. I say that because if both sides have
Speaker 1: something to complain about equally but even more to celebrate,
Speaker 1: then people are not just thinking about what they have
Speaker 1: to lose, They're also thinking about what they have to gain,
Speaker 1: and as a result, decorum and common sense kicks into
Speaker 1: the equation and we don't have to worry about the
Speaker 1: level of vitriol we're witnessing. We have to think about that.
Speaker 1: We have anow obligation to think about that. That's why
Speaker 1: you've been seeing me talk about these issues on this show.
Speaker 1: That's why you saw me on this week on ABC.
Speaker 1: That's why you'll see me on Hannity's show, in Cuomo's show,
Speaker 1: That's why you'll hear about me leaving the door open.
Speaker 1: Even though I have no desire to be a politician,
Speaker 1: not with the kind of success that I've been enjoying
Speaker 1: in my career, Why the hell would I want to
Speaker 1: do that. There's only one reason. If the world is
Speaker 1: so jacked up that whatever I achieve doesn't even matter,
Speaker 1: because nothing but mayhem in degradation is surrounding me in
Speaker 1: our society. That's the only incentive. I think Josh Shapiro
Speaker 1: has the potential to be an excellent Democratic nominee for
Speaker 1: the presidency of the United States of America. I think
Speaker 1: some people fear that, maybe even mister Balmer himself. I've
Speaker 1: mentioned names like Wes Moore, governor of Maryland. I've mentioned
Speaker 1: names like former governor of New York Andrew Cuomo. I'll
Speaker 1: continue to mention others as the names come along, But
Speaker 1: the goal is common sense, a pull to the center
Speaker 1: from both sides of the aisle. Just like we got
Speaker 1: people on the left worried about what they're worried about,
Speaker 1: whether it was woke or cancel culture or abortion or
Speaker 1: you know, now with what Trump is doing with the
Speaker 1: tariffs and how it's potentially hurting small businesses in this country.
Speaker 1: Even though small businesses, some small business members say they
Speaker 1: are a support of the tariffs, far more might say otherwise.
Speaker 1: You got other people on the right talking about a
Speaker 1: excuse me, what about a third term? Like Steve Bannon
Speaker 1: going on with Bill Mahd real time this past Friday,
Speaker 1: talking about circumventing the twenty second Amendment of the Constitution
Speaker 1: so Trump could run for a third term, implemented in
Speaker 1: the Constitution in nineteen forty seven, ratified in nineteen fifty one. Oh,
Speaker 1: you're gonna sit up there and say, well, it's relatively new,
Speaker 1: and just like there were people that work to make
Speaker 1: modifications and alterations and changes to the Constitution back then,
Speaker 1: we could do it now. O hell to the No,
Speaker 1: we gotta come to the center, otherwise we'll be talking
Speaker 1: about the lives of the few flourishing at the flagrant
Speaker 1: expense of the very many. We can't have that. We
Speaker 1: gotta be in search of more things to celebrate, not
Speaker 1: more things to lament. Speaking of celebration, finally, I want
Speaker 1: to get props to mis Gail King, Katy Perry, Ais Shabo,
Speaker 1: who was just on the show last week, and the
Speaker 1: other women who went up in space today. They were
Speaker 1: among six women who traveled aboard Blue Origins, all females,
Speaker 1: suborbital space Tororism mission. The ladies took off just after
Speaker 1: nine thirty am Eastern in the company's new Shepherd rocket
Speaker 1: in West Texas. The company shared that the capsule flew
Speaker 1: more than sixty miles above ground before landing nearly eleven
Speaker 1: minutes later. Jeff Bezos, who's fiance Laurence Sanchez was also
Speaker 1: on a flight, greeted the ladies shortly after they landed.
Speaker 1: Major major props to them for their bravery as well.
Speaker 1: Because you ain't catching me up in there, I tell
Speaker 1: you that much. I'm not that curious, ladies and gentlemen.
Speaker 1: I'm a human being. I'm meant to be on Earth.
Speaker 1: I don't need to be on Mars. I don't need
Speaker 1: to be above Earth's orbit. I don't need all that.
Speaker 1: I'm a god that fear an individual, you know what.
Speaker 1: You know when I want to go that high, when
Speaker 1: I wanna go high, and that because I wanna go
Speaker 1: to heaven. That's about it. But I ain't knocking anybody
Speaker 1: who thinks otherwise, who feels otherwise. Those ladies are tremendous
Speaker 1: tribute and props to them for what they did. We
Speaker 1: celebrate them, we congratulate them. It takes courage to do
Speaker 1: what they did, and I'm quite sure it was a
Speaker 1: wonderful life altering experience for them, which we'll be hearing
Speaker 1: about in the days and the weeks to come. My
Speaker 1: major props to all of you wonderful ladies. You did
Speaker 1: something I'll never think about doing. I can tell that much.
Speaker 1: But I thank you for it nevertheless, as I'm sure
Speaker 1: the rest of America does as well. That's it for
Speaker 1: this edition of the Stephen A. Smith Show. I will
Speaker 1: holler at y'all at a later date. Hope y'all enjoyed it.
Speaker 1: Thanks again on my man Brian Wenttors from ESPN for
Speaker 1: dropping his NBA knowledge on this show. Until next time, everybody,
Speaker 1: as in the next couple of days. Peace and love,
Speaker 1: Stephen A signing off