Phoenix Suns star Kevin Durant called ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith a “clown” over the weekend for Smith questioning his leadership, and Smith has come back with a response.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Reappearing on the ESPN show “First Take,” Smith checked Durant for his claim saying that he hasn’t been at a practice even though Smith “talks s***” about him on TV.
“I got bad news for Kevin Durant. If you’re expecting me to reciprocate with that kind of pettiness and childishness, that’s not going to happen. Kevin Durant is one of the greatest players to play this game… I have also been on the record to say he is a good dude. If he wants to resort to that level even though we are both grown men, if he has something to say, he has my number,” Smith said. “He refrains from doing so and that’s what he has to deal with.
“Respectfully Kevin Durant, can you stop lying, please? I’ve been an NBA reporter and I was a columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer and Kevin Durant has seen me in the locker room when he was at Oklahoma City, he has seen me when he was at Golden State and he has certainly seen me at games throughout his career.”
"I got bad news for Kevin Durant: If you're expecting me to reciprocate with that kind of pettiness & childishness, it's not gonna happen… Could you stop lying please? … Who's allowed to talk about him?"
Stephen A. Smith on KD calling him a 'clown'pic.twitter.com/TolPw4BQJv
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) November 4, 2024
Smith went on to question Durant about who is allowed to talk about him because Durant has been known for responding to criticism from others.
“Unfortunately for him, I don’t have to be at shootaround and I don’t have to be in the postgame locker room,” Smith said. “I happen to have a hit show that’s been No. 1 for the past 12 years. I have other things to do with my time, and I go to games all the time. I am not a beat writer anymore, so let’s get that out of the way.
“Kevin Durant is going to have to answer this question, who is allowed to talk about him? Charles Barkley played this game as a Hall of Famer, he got at Charles Barkley. Shannon Sharpe is a three-time Super Bowl champion and a Hall of Famer, he got at Shannon. He’s gotten at players, the CJ McCollum’s of the world and Dennis Schröder’s of the world and others. He’s gotten at fans and had (social media) accounts that didn’t reveal who he was. There is a whole bunch of things, so I don’t understand it. It’s contemporaries and colleagues, it’s former players, it’s present players, it’s the media, it’s the fans, it’s whoever. Is anyone allowed to talk about Kevin Durant? Anybody at all because I don’t understand it?”
Even though there may be takes that Durant has disagreed with Smith in the past, this season has seen them go back and forth on a whole other level.
Smith praised Durant on Oct. 24 before he started talking about his leadership and how he believes Durant doesn’t get the most out of his teammates around him.
“When you talk about Kevin Durant, this is not what we are going to do. We are not going to look at Kevin Durant and just measure him just on his talent, it’s what ability you have to peel out of others,” Smith said. “I think Kevin Durant is one of the greatest talents this game has ever seen, I think what he has done for the game of basketball and being an ambassador is to be afforded. The flip side to all of that is that he has been relatively leaderless. He’s been very lacking in inspiration in terms of peeling out from those around him.
“He’ll show up. If it is a Game 1 or a Game 7, Kevin Durant is going to show up and he is going to ball out. But does he get the others around him to do it? Not only does he not do it, he doesn’t feel the level of responsibility I think he should feel in getting it out of him. When you are that great and you warrant that much respect, you should be able to be a better leader than he has shown. Because that hasn’t been the case, whether it was in Oklahoma City, whether it was later on in Brooklyn, why am I going to believe that is something you are going to do in Phoenix?”
As a response, Durant didn’t hold back and went after Smith for what he had to say about him.
“Yeah, Stephen A., I don’t understand how people even listen to Stephen A.,” Durant said to The Athletic after the Suns beat the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday. “I’ve been in the league for 18 years. I’ve never seen Stephen A. at a practice, a film session, or a shoot-around. I’ve never seen him anywhere but on TV talking s*** about players. … He’s a clown to me. He’s always been a clown. You can write that, too.”
Durant has since not responded to Smith’s latest claims.
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Reporter Alec Cipollini covers the Phoenix Mercury, Suns and ASU Athletics for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account, @AlecCipollini
