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KD and Stephen A. won’t agree, and that’s okay

Umito November 6, 2024

Both Stephen A. Smith and Kevin Durant could give up, but that won’t happen.

They’re too buried – and you know what? It’s OK.

Durant has every right to feel how he feels about Smith from his perspective.

He sees him as someone who criticizes players on television but is not there to see with his own eyes what is happening. But Smith also has the same right to speak his mind.

Smith believes that Phoenix SunsThe superstar is too sensitive and has reference points to back up his claims, as he explained during the latest verbal altercation between the two on ESPN’s First Take Monday morning.

“It’s contemporaries and colleagues, it’s former players, it’s current players, it’s the media, it’s the fans, it’s anyone,” Smith said. “Is anyone allowed to talk about Kevin Durant?”

It was after Durant called Smith a ‘clown’ in an interview with The Athletic, saying he doesn’t understand why anyone listens to the longtime ESPN personality, who, frankly, is the main face of the network.

This wasn’t the first time they had clashed. It won’t be the last. Durant supporters will once again criticize Smith while Smith supporters will say Durant has rabbit ears.

And again, it’s okay. Those are words, even if Smith’s final response to Durant on First Take was like, damn.

“I sincerely hope he doesn’t get swept in the playoffs again like he did two of the last three years,” Smith concluded.

If the Suns do indeed make it out of the first round and reach the Finals, Durant and Smith will cross paths, but no need to let your imagination run wild.

I can’t see these two being in the same room and things coming out of their pockets. They have a certain level of professionalism, but let’s get back to the crux of that last exchange of words for a moment.

Black-smith said Durant was ‘leaderless’ addressing the question of whether the two-time Finals MVP can lead Phoenix to a championship. Suns teammates came to Durant’s defense, saying he was an easy target, and defended his leadership style.

They said he wasn’t the “rah, rah” type, but he would call his teammates.

Last season, I asked Durant if he noticed his teammates feeding off his interactions with them, because the truth is, that’s one of his greatest superpowers.

If Kevin Durant says, hey man, you gotta do this, his teammates know two things. First of all, I better fucking do it because Durant said so, and second of all, they see how hard he works and they understand that it comes from a place of helping the team win, not for the degrade.

“Try to talk about my actions and hopefully it inspires people,” Durant said. “Sometimes if it’s something I see I try to speak up, but I talk too much when we’re all teammates. I make mistakes too.”

Read that again.

For him to have that kind of thinking with everything he’s accomplished says a lot. He could easily say, “I’m one of the greatest of all time” and work around his flaws, but Durant doesn’t do that.

Now, can he be sentient? Absolutely, but we all are to some extent.

I take things personally, a lot because I can be sensitive and I’m a work in progress 24/7, but I will digest them, see them for what they are and try to learn from them lessons.

I’m as guilty as anyone, but growth is everything.

Sorry for getting off topic.

When it comes to Durant’s leadership, it’s a unique blend of examples, corrections, and the belief that one should be able to do their job. The difference is that Durant did his job better than most who have played.

So when Smith says he thinks Durant can’t inspire his teammates to take their game to the next level, that’s where the line is drawn.

Maybe he just doesn’t do it like, say, Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant, but try telling Suns rookie Ryan Dunn that Durant isn’t a leader. Durant helped plant a seed of confidence and work ethic in Dunn through coaching, praise and support that allowed him to play so well out of the gate.

So Durant could have easily said, “Here’s Stephen A” and let it go, but he didn’t. Instead, he took him out there and called Smith a clown, knowing Smith wasn’t going to let that roll.

As Smith said, he understands what comes with the job and has no problem being the bad guy. He has been a writer on many levels for decades, is a best-selling author, and has achieved the highest level of success in his profession.

This cannot be ignored. Smith has covered the best of all time, worked with some of the best, and is respected by many in the industry no matter what anyone says about him.

He has a powerful voice and a phone list as long as the Mississippi River. When he speaks, everyone listens to him to agree or not. For information, he has 6 million followers on X.

When he talks about Durant, it’s even more inescapable.

This will subside at some point.

Durant will continue to get buckets and Smith will continue to talk that talk, but consider this: If Smith’s final words on First Take come to fruition, that means Phoenix has likely made it to the Finals and these two will have to see each other – face to face. face – whether in the locker room, in training or in the first match.

Do you have any thoughts on the current state of the Suns? Contact Suns insider Duane Rankin at [email protected] or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.

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