0:00

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I'm pretty pissed

0:02

off today. I'm not going to

0:04

deny it, and I

0:06

will confess to you I'm pretty pissed off for some

0:09

of my colleagues, one

0:11

in particular.

0:12

I usually don't call folks out

0:14

that I work with.

0:17

There's always exceptions because

0:20

sometimes they're necessary. The Stephen

0:22

Asmith Show coming your way right

0:25

now.

0:36

What's up, everybody? Welcome to the latest

0:39

edition of The Stephen A.

0:39

Smith Show, coming at you as I love to do at the very

0:41

least three days a week over the digital airways of YouTube.

0:44

I hope you all had an absolutely positively wonderful

0:46

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0:48

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eight thousand, and continues to climb each

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and every single day. That couldn't be possible or

0:55

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0:59

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1:01

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2:00

the show and we can go from there. Look,

2:05

I'm not pissed to the point where I'm annoyed

2:07

and I'm gonna call people out their names or

2:09

especially people that I love, like the person.

2:11

I'm about to talk about in a few minutes. But

2:14

certain things need.

2:15

To be corrected for the record because

2:18

certain people, certain things people are just

2:20

ill informed about, and the publications

2:23

that grab the headlines and try

2:25

to manipulate things and make things seem as

2:27

if there's something that they're not. I

2:29

understand that some folks are desperate for clickbait.

2:32

That's how they do it. They don't care about accuracy. They

2:34

just care about talking shit and not

2:36

knowing what the hell they're talking about. So I'm here

2:38

for it, and that's fine because that's

2:41

one of the reasons I'm in good shape, because I don't

2:43

hold stuff inside all the time and let

2:45

stuff foment an ultimately and implosion

2:48

takes place, and I'm the one that suffers because I'm

2:50

unhealthy. No, I believe, and

2:52

as I've said this the family and friends throughout

2:54

my life, I believe the best form

2:57

of stress relief is

2:59

received precation. When

3:02

people stress, you stress the hell

3:04

out of them, and that's how

3:06

you'll alleviate your stress because they'll

3:08

know stress is coming down the pike and they won't

3:11

want the damn trouble. So maybe they won't

3:13

bring you trouble. But I'm here for

3:15

it. I'm here for it.

3:17

And it's regarding the subject

3:19

of Caitlin Clark.

3:21

For those of you don't know, she's a former

3:23

star at Iowa and College, played

3:26

in the National Championship Game for losing to South Carolina.

3:29

She's a number one overall pick for

3:31

the w NBA Draft. She is a special

3:33

talent, to say the least, even though

3:35

she's not having a special year because the Indiana

3:37

Fever is stinking up the joint. They've got the

3:39

second worst record in the league. Only the Washington

3:41

Mystics or words who are oh to

3:44

eight Indiana Fever are o to nine.

3:46

But that's not the story involving Caitlin Clark

3:48

and all the drama that surrounds her

3:50

in this particular day. As we get

3:52

started to talk about this hot topic that

3:55

is Caitlin Clark, let's put it in its proper

3:57

perspective. The Indiana Fever rookie

4:00

foul Saturday night Chicago

4:02

sky guard Kennedy Carter

4:04

on an inbounds play. The foulers

4:07

later upgraded to a flagrant one violation

4:09

after league review. The very next day,

4:12

feverhead coach Christy Side said she's

4:14

been sending plays to the league for review.

4:16

When I asked about the treatment of US star rookie

4:19

to play itself and overall treatment of Clark

4:22

has had social media buzzing.

4:24

We've all been buzzing about it, okay, but

4:27

there was another individual that was buzzing about it

4:29

for a different reason, and that's my boy, Matt Bonds

4:32

from the Old The Smoke podcast.

4:34

He weighed in on it this weekend and

4:37

before I do anything, I

4:40

want to show you what he had

4:42

to say.

4:43

Check out his thoughts.

4:44

Through the hot topic going on right now.

4:46

Cavin Clark says she got cheap shoted against

4:48

the Sky. I mean throughout the season she's been getting

4:51

beat up, hardscreen's elbows, knockdown.

4:53

It is what it is.

4:54

She's not the first, she won't be the last.

4:56

My issue with my question is where

4:58

the fuck are her teammates? Where y'all

5:00

at? Where are the rest of the Indiana Fever at I've seen

5:03

a couple girls smirk when she's got knocked

5:05

down, half ass to pick her up, like

5:07

y'all supposed to protect the asset, protect the star

5:09

and all. This is the team. She's the star. You

5:12

always protect your star. I was someone who protected

5:14

the stars. You fuck with Cole cp

5:16

Blake. This goes on, it's

5:19

gonna be a problem because you got are supposed to be a family.

5:21

And you wonder why you sit at the bottom of the league right

5:23

now because y'all don't protect each other. Man, coach,

5:25

don't do shit about it. Players don't shoot do shit about

5:27

y'all should be ashamed of it. But the rest of the league is gonna

5:29

continue to test her, and that's what they're supposed to do. And

5:32

she got his fucking job to have her back and have each

5:34

other's back.

5:35

Gotta do better, ladies.

5:36

I want thousand percent agree with Matt Bonds every

5:38

syllable that he uttered. I don't think the coach would

5:41

be coaching the end if you've aftter this year, assuming.

5:43

She last this year.

5:44

I thought it was very tepid response at this time,

5:46

at this particular moment. I mean, we've sent tape to

5:48

the league, We've complained with the league. Please, we didn't know about

5:50

it. Where's the noise? You got

5:52

a girl here who's box office in Kaitlyn Clark.

5:55

She is box office. We can lament

5:57

at all we want to, but the fact of the matter is

5:59

Caitlyn Claw is box office

6:01

and we got to get that out the way. And I'll get into all

6:03

of that a little bit more in just a second, because

6:06

it's very very important that we point this out.

6:08

She breaks, she fills seats, she brings

6:11

the cameras, she brings national

6:13

publicity. It's what she does

6:16

now as a player. Let's

6:18

understand this about Caitlyn Clark, number one overall

6:20

pick on pace to become the first rookie ever the average at least

6:22

fifteen points, five rebounds, five assists, but

6:25

she also leads the league with five point four turnovers

6:27

per game, one point three more than any other player in the league.

6:29

She's shooting just under.

6:30

Thirty six percent from the field and thirty percent from three point

6:32

range, which is not impressive. Of the twenty one

6:34

players averaging at least fifteen points in the game, Clarks

6:37

the third worst field goal percentage that thirty

6:39

five point seven percent.

6:40

She also has more technical fouls with three.

6:43

Than the Indiana Fever has wins right now

6:45

two with two, which is very very bad,

6:47

by the way, but understandable because if you're

6:49

losing that much, it stands. The reason that you're a high end

6:51

competitor like she is, you're gonna get called for some technical

6:54

files. She struggled with, physical defense she's

6:56

faced at the professional level, and voice frustration

6:58

with the league's officiating recently, Telly reporters

7:00

quote, I feel like I'm getting hammered and everybody

7:03

is physical with me, and opponents get away

7:05

with things that other people don't get away with. That's

7:07

what Caitlyn Clark said. That is

7:09

what she said. Okay, but to

7:12

me, it's a bigger issue going

7:14

on. And when this happened,

7:16

and that girl, Kennedy

7:19

Carter pushed her in the back like that,

7:21

it was a cheap shot. It was not a basketball play.

7:24

She should have been ejected number one.

7:26

Number two. There should have been a

7:28

fine that was incurred thereafter Number

7:30

three. Not to say that there won't be or hasn't

7:32

been at this moment in time, I don't know of one.

7:35

I know the team was fine for media availability

7:37

purposes because people weren't available to talk.

7:39

I know Andrew Reese was also going to be fine

7:41

because she didn't make herself available for

7:44

the media as well. And I get all of

7:46

that as well. We understand it. We see it for what it

7:48

is. It is what it is.

7:49

I'm saying this.

7:51

It's important that we point this out.

7:55

One of the things that I brought up this morning

7:58

and talking about Caitlyn is

8:01

that some of the players. You

8:03

want to use the word jealousy, Fine, you want to use

8:05

the word env Fine, you want to use the

8:07

word resentment. We want to play with words.

8:10

That's cool, It's something,

8:13

and I think that some of the ladies, not all,

8:17

but some of the ladies in the WNBA are missing

8:19

the point.

8:20

And the point is this girl

8:22

right.

8:23

Here is a box office

8:25

attraction and because

8:28

of her box office attraction, it's

8:30

generating more eyeballs to the WNBA

8:33

product, therefore more revenue for

8:35

the WNBA profit a product.

8:38

Don't you think y'all are gonna benefit from that too?

8:42

Look at the big picture. That's

8:46

what I was talking about when I was talking about it this morning

8:48

on my day Jo our first take on ESPN every weekday

8:51

morning from ten am to twelve nowon East to stand the time,

8:54

A rising.

8:55

Tide raises all boats.

8:58

If Caitlyn Clark is the quote

9:00

unquote savior, if she's the Golden

9:03

Girl, milk it now

9:06

it's just an opinion, albeit I

9:08

believe an educated one. But

9:11

this girl that comes away from CO comes into it,

9:13

comes out of college rather who happens

9:15

to be white, who's

9:18

already making bookoo dollars

9:20

the average that the average the maximum

9:22

salary in the w NBA is two hundred

9:24

and fifty thousand. If I remember

9:26

correctly, Caitlin Clark signed a twenty eight million

9:29

dollar endorsement deal. Win't nobody in

9:31

a WNBA getting that. Nobody's gotten that yet,

9:33

but her. Asia Wilson

9:35

is the superstar in the NBA. In a WNBA,

9:38

she's a two time champion. This

9:40

girl is the is legit, she's the real

9:42

deal, and those kind of endorsements

9:45

and all of that stuff ain't come her way, even

9:47

though some has come away. Vlajah

9:50

Johnson out of LSU is gonna get her

9:52

bag. She already got

9:54

nil deals. She's

9:57

also a hip hop artist. We're

10:00

seeing women get shine. We're

10:02

seeing this shine elevate. It's deserving,

10:05

it's long overdue, but

10:08

the fact is it's long overdue.

10:11

And because it's long overdue, it begs the question

10:14

why the hell ending to arrivee earlier? Because

10:18

you didn't have Kaitlyn Clark earlier. Now,

10:21

what's the difference between hun and Diana Tarassi

10:23

or Sue Bird or Rihanna

10:26

Stewart or somebody else, or you're

10:28

in that school or somebody y'all talk about

10:30

that. The fact of the matter is the

10:34

kind of stuff that's happening and has been happening

10:37

over the last few months is.

10:39

Because of Kaitlyn Clark.

10:41

I got some of the stats in front of me to validate

10:43

it, because you see, I bring receipts,

10:46

and I'll get to why I'm really pissed off

10:48

in a few minutes. WNBA

10:53

Draft twenty twenty four drew

10:55

two point four hundred four four

10:58

six million viewers to

11:01

ESPN on Monday night, making

11:03

it the most watched draft in

11:05

w NBA history.

11:07

Who's the number one over opick?

11:10

Hi Amran?

11:10

Who's the number on O pick? They

11:12

say it louder, Caitlin Clark

11:15

the number one overpack. Is coincidence?

11:17

Huh? Just coincidence? Huh. Of course

11:19

it's not.

11:20

Highest rated draft in history because

11:22

Caitlyn Clark. W NBA

11:25

TV ratings for this season,

11:28

Ladies and gentlemen, do you know it skyrocketed? ABC

11:31

announced it had its most viewed opening weekend

11:33

double header ever, with two games combined in the average

11:35

one point five million viewers. That

11:38

marks a one hundred and forty three percent

11:40

increase from a w NBA double header

11:43

on ABC a year ago.

11:44

Did you know that? Did you know that? Did you know that? Well?

11:46

You know it now? Le's that.

11:48

Just to throw this out there, Caitlin

11:51

Clark's Indiana Fever has been involved

11:53

in three now, mind you, the same

11:55

Indiana team that

11:57

started out one to seven, The

12:00

same Indiana team that lost their first three or

12:02

four over four games of the season. The

12:04

same Indiana Fever that has the second

12:06

worst record in WNBA

12:09

basketball Right now, the only team

12:12

worse than them in the entire league is the Washington

12:14

Mystics, who are winless in eight

12:16

games.

12:17

The second worst.

12:18

Team in the league is the Indiana Fever,

12:21

led by Caitlyn Clark.

12:23

Did you know that?

12:25

The Fever has been involved in three of the four

12:27

TV games that have garnered one

12:29

point three million average

12:31

viewers this season entering

12:35

this past weekend, These

12:37

are the most watched w NBA

12:39

games.

12:40

Are you ready for this?

12:41

In over two decades, the

12:44

Indiana Fever to a nine.

12:46

By the way, Indiana is a small market in New York City.

12:48

Ain La in Chicago. Is

12:51

that Scot's not the Liberty, It's not Sparks.

12:53

We're talking about the Indiana Fever led

12:56

by a girl that was playing at Iowa.

13:01

It's producing the most

13:03

watched WNBA games in over

13:06

two decades.

13:10

What does that tell you?

13:13

That tells you that before Caitlyn Clark came along,

13:15

it wasn't nearly as popular. It

13:17

doesn't mean it wasn't growing in popularity over

13:20

the last two to three years. But

13:22

three years ago WNBA was an afterthought

13:26

a little bit less than that. There

13:29

were thoughts of this team

13:32

being defunct and going away.

13:35

Nobody cared. And

13:38

I don't mean that literally. I mean by

13:40

large and I'm gonna say something that was very unpopular,

13:42

then it'll be unpopular

13:44

now.

13:45

But I don't give a damn because it's

13:47

a fact. We're

13:50

the ladies.

13:54

The sport I'm not talking about right now. I'm

13:56

talking about in the past, when it wasn't as popular

14:01

the men have this sports. Do

14:03

you know why men's sports became exponentially

14:05

more popular because

14:07

of women? It

14:10

was more women watching NBA games, it

14:12

was more women watching NFL games.

14:15

That's how it became more popular.

14:18

Well, ladies, if you help

14:21

the NFL get more popular, and you help the NBA

14:23

get more popular, how come you didn't help the WNBA

14:25

get more popular until recently.

14:30

You did that.

14:32

The men of the men, but

14:38

the women rule. When

14:41

women support you, you win. Everything

14:44

shows that. It happens in

14:46

sports, it happens in business, It

14:48

happens in television. When

14:51

women watching you, when

14:54

women are listening to you, you win.

14:57

Every superstar you could possibly

14:59

fathom. Got it good with the ladies.

15:02

The ladies support them.

15:05

I don't care who you pick. Pick a superstar,

15:07

pick a make a superstar, and tell

15:09

me where they're lacking female

15:11

support. Twenty

15:15

five to fifty four demographic, eighteen to thirty four

15:17

demographic. The list goes on and on. When

15:21

the women support you, you win. You

15:25

even win elections. You

15:28

don't win elections because the men support you. For

15:31

the most part.

15:32

From what I've been told, you win

15:34

it when the women come out and support you. Women

15:38

know this. So

15:40

why was the WNBA not popular all of these years?

15:46

So when I go on national television and

15:49

I bring up jealousy, NV

15:53

resentment or whatever, I'm not saying

15:55

it's not justified. If

15:57

you are a WNBA player and

15:59

you resent Caitlyn Clark.

16:01

It makes perfect sense because

16:06

she's white and she's.

16:08

The golden girl that's considered

16:11

the marketing.

16:12

Savior for the sport.

16:14

Yes, they were talking about chartered flights

16:17

before she ever came along and opened her mouth.

16:19

But shortly after Caitlyn.

16:20

Clark opened her mouth, you had chartered flights and

16:24

you ain't having in two decades. She's

16:26

got that kind of influence, that kind of

16:29

power. I wasn't trying

16:31

to say that women black,

16:33

white, and everything in between associated

16:35

with the WNBA

16:39

should it was wrong, and shouldn't

16:41

feel resentment after all that hard

16:43

work you put in to pound the

16:45

pavement and to be the great players that you are

16:48

and the great basketball ambassadors that

16:50

you are, what you've done for this sport.

16:52

Of course you should feel resentful. Of

16:55

course you should.

16:59

What I'm saying is, don't be blind.

17:03

There's an opening exploited.

17:08

Rather than be resentful, envious,

17:12

jealous, whatever word.

17:14

Is applicable, notice

17:17

the opening.

17:20

Caitlyn Clark is bringing more attention when

17:23

you get on the court with her and you perform.

17:26

And somehow, some way you'll

17:28

find.

17:28

A way to attach yourself to

17:30

that level of magnetism that she surely

17:33

has.

17:35

Who knows what could be out there for you?

17:39

And if suddenly the maximum salary goes

17:41

from two hundred.

17:42

And fifty thousand to four hundred and fifty thousand,

17:44

and.

17:44

Suddenly you're on chartered jets instead of commercial

17:46

flights, and suddenly you're

17:50

maximizing the potential of your in name, image

17:52

and likeness, what do you care? At

17:56

the end of the day, the rising

17:58

tide lifts all both, and

18:01

I'm able to get personal about it. How

18:04

many times did I tell y'all when ESPN signed

18:06

Pat McAfee, nobody was happier than me. Shannon

18:10

Sharp ded and he getting it shine, Nobody's

18:13

happier than me.

18:14

Ryan Clark got a new deal. Nobody's

18:16

happier to me.

18:16

Troy ak Mean got a deal, Joe

18:19

Buck got a deal, Kirk Herbsheet

18:21

got a deal, Tom Brady got a deal,

18:23

Tony Romo got his deal.

18:28

Because they're setting the market.

18:31

Why do you think I've had a smile on my face

18:33

all of these months

18:36

because I believe it's my turn.

18:40

Has nothing to do with Disney, has nothing to

18:42

do with ESPN. It has everything to do with the

18:44

industry. If

18:47

I'm an NBA player and

18:50

I've just won a championship and

18:53

somebody who didn't win gets

18:59

fifty million a year here doing

19:01

what I do, What.

19:02

Do you think I'm gonna think I'm worse? See

19:06

how simple it is.

19:08

It's capitalism,

19:11

it's marketability, it's

19:14

it's taking advantage of

19:16

the moment.

19:19

That's business. Why

19:22

be resentful of any of them?

19:25

I throw out names like the mcafeees, and the

19:28

Akman's and and and all of these folks,

19:30

even the Joe Rogan's of the world and everybody

19:32

else. I couldn't be though, I couldn't be more

19:34

thankful. You're

19:36

setting the market. That's

19:41

business. What

19:43

is wrong with people? How

19:45

do you not see that you

19:50

didn't hurt Caitlyn Clark, You didn't chop

19:52

at her knees or anything like that.

19:53

Kennedy Carter, So that's cool.

19:55

It was a bush league player, it wasn't a basketball play

19:57

and all of this other stuff. But

19:59

it at the end of the day, all

20:02

I'm saying is for

20:04

you because I saw you. I saw the reports that you

20:06

called her the B word before your shove there in the side

20:08

hip check her, but before

20:11

just in case resentment, jealousy, envy, or

20:13

whatever it is is applicable, because I don't know which one it.

20:15

Is just in case.

20:18

All I'm saying is, hold

20:20

up, ladies, there's

20:22

an opportunity here.

20:25

Go for it. Let

20:28

that girl shine. I'm not talking about

20:30

it on the court.

20:30

You compete against it, you try to take her out, try

20:33

to beat the I get that part, but I'm

20:35

talking about let that girl shine market

20:37

it wise, let her get her bag,

20:41

find a way to maximize

20:44

off of it, and create an opening for yourself

20:46

so.

20:46

You can get yours.

20:50

That's the American way. Hell,

20:54

that's the global way.

20:57

But for some reason, my colleague

20:59

at ESPN, MSS

21:02

Monica McNutt, couldn't

21:06

figured that out and

21:10

took a conversation and

21:14

did something she has never done.

21:16

Before that absolutely

21:18

shocked me.

21:19

That she did today that

21:21

I totally and emphatically disagreed

21:23

with. Although I do love her

21:25

to death and I

21:28

appreciate the great work that she does for me

21:30

on first take on ESPN and the great work she

21:32

does for ESPN overall,

21:34

I love Monica McNutt, but

21:37

this is the first real disagreement we had, and

21:40

since she brought it up on National television.

21:43

I'm gonna bring it up now.

21:46

This is myself along

21:48

with her and Shannon Sharp from

21:50

Club Shayshay, getting into it

21:52

on this very subject.

21:54

Watch where Monica McNutt goes. Listen

21:56

to this.

21:57

Who talked about Wether's sports more the more

21:59

the First Take, Stephen ain't

22:01

respectfully with your platform.

22:03

You could have been doing this three years ago if you wanted to.

22:08

Wow, all right, we gotta go. You got you

22:10

know, but who does more.

22:13

I'm talking to you. I'm talking to you.

22:15

I do that.

22:16

I'm talking to you about the power that you have.

22:18

Okay, I'm talking to you.

22:20

Okay, Okay, you my

22:22

god, I'm talking to you.

22:24

Guys.

22:24

Guys, guys, I really appreciate.

22:26

You, my girl. But you've missed a lot of episodes of First

22:28

Take. You missed years

22:30

ago.

22:31

You were not talking about the at this level.

22:32

Don't do that, guys, Guys, guys,

22:38

Monica job

22:40

first of all, as

22:44

it pertains to what Molly said, doing a job

22:46

at that particular moment, naturally

22:50

in television got to get us. The

22:52

commercial break sometimes

22:55

damn the commercial break. But

22:59

that's the subject for another day. I'll deal with

23:01

that.

23:04

Here's the bigger issue.

23:07

You know, there's something that's going

23:09

on, and a lot of people run from it, but

23:13

I'm not because I'm

23:17

not scared of these subjects. Doesn't phase

23:19

me at all.

23:21

To address Monica mcnutt's point, I

23:25

found it very unfortunate that she would say that,

23:29

Ladies and gentlemen, I am the executive

23:31

producer of First Take. You

23:33

ever heard of Monica McNutt. You

23:36

have now because she's

23:38

on First Take A lot Shanello

23:41

goomackay, absolutely

23:43

wonderful, spectacular basketball analyst,

23:45

et cetera, et cetera, WNBA playing our

23:47

own right. Ask

23:50

how it's been to be on first Aake? How

23:53

about Andrea Carter, who's

23:56

a rising star in this business?

24:00

How much do you think First Take help that? What

24:03

about Kimberly Martin? What

24:06

about Molly Carram herself? Now,

24:11

I have sat back for years and

24:14

taken a lot of shit from

24:17

people, some

24:19

who don't know what the hell they're talking about, some

24:22

who act like they don't know just because they want

24:24

to get at me. I

24:27

could care less about people getting at me. I just want you

24:29

to be accurate. And

24:33

it is highly offensive to me when

24:36

somebody implies or

24:38

flat out states like Monica

24:40

McNutt dig Monica McNutt

24:43

did this morning, which.

24:46

Was factually incorrect.

24:49

I challenge anybody to find a show

24:51

with sports television that

24:54

discusses women issues, that

24:56

discusses the WNBA or women's

24:58

sports that highlights

25:01

and profiles female

25:03

analyst more than First Take.

25:06

It's been going on for years.

25:08

One of our producers here, this

25:11

guy by the name of Gaalen Gordon, who

25:14

used to be a producer on First Take.

25:17

He was one of the people who spared it.

25:22

Highlighting diversity.

25:28

You as an audience don't know this, but

25:32

Monica McNutt does the

25:35

James Dunn and the David McKinnon's of the world and

25:37

others. He's a black man overseeing

25:41

First Take.

25:43

My boss.

25:45

The h N I C as they say,

25:50

one of the executives, the top three executives

25:53

at ESPN overseeing

25:55

First Take is a black man by the

25:57

name of Dave Roberts.

26:00

We have black women, we have white women.

26:02

Mina Comms.

26:03

Let mean, I forget to mention her, there's

26:08

a female host on my show.

26:11

Anybody trying to let go Molly Before

26:14

her, it was Kerry Champion.

26:20

Before Numbers Never lie came along with Jamail Hill

26:22

she's on first take, First

26:29

take his spearheaded diversity

26:33

and equity keviny

26:37

idea. How offensive it was for me to

26:39

sit there and hear Monica McNutt

26:41

say that about me when I'm

26:43

the one who had picked our roster on

26:45

first take. Now

26:50

again, we're only talking about

26:52

this incident. I love Monica McNutt.

26:55

She's phenomenal, and

26:57

she is a friend, and I'm a supporter, and I'm going

26:59

to remain a supporter of us. I just

27:02

disagree with that one

27:04

statement because

27:07

I have to publicly defend the show.

27:12

What she said is blatantly

27:14

false. I'm not accusing her

27:16

of lying. I'm accusing

27:18

her of not knowing. Because

27:21

she's not a liar, she's an honorable person.

27:24

She must not have known. The

27:27

WNBA. Could I have done more?

27:30

Well, guess what, Monica McNutt. I could have done less?

27:34

Who's done more? Hell?

27:37

A legitimate argument could be made that the WNBA

27:39

wasn't doing it for himself, for

27:42

themselves, the

27:46

commissioner of the WNBA came

27:49

or first take to thank us for what

27:51

we were doing for the WNBA.

27:55

Who else was doing it? Where

27:58

are these people at?

28:03

We address one issue after another

28:06

after another, it's sports, fine,

28:08

it's social issues, fine, it's politics.

28:11

It's fine, it's just the issues.

28:13

Fine. The list goes on and on.

28:16

First take is the place.

28:19

Who's the executive producer, first.

28:21

Day,

28:24

who hand picked every single contributed

28:26

to the show, because

28:29

more than two years ago, Jimmy

28:31

Patara, the president of ESPN, Dave

28:36

Roberts, an executive edited at ESPN, handed

28:42

that responsibility to me.

28:43

And I didn't even ask for it. You

28:46

don't believe me. Ask them,

28:49

you know their numbers.

28:51

Jimmy Pataro, Dave Roberts,

28:53

Burt Magnus is not a boss overcreated content

28:56

for ESPN.

28:57

Ask him too.

29:01

I'm in charge of content. I'm

29:04

in charge of the

29:06

contributors that are on the show.

29:08

That would be me.

29:12

What do you mean we haven't talked about it years

29:15

ago? Years ago, you

29:17

weren't resonating. Years ago, you

29:19

didn't have an audience. Years ago, you

29:21

didn't have that audience because even the women weren't

29:23

supporting the WNBA. And

29:28

it was me on national television calling

29:30

up the women to support the NWNBA.

29:34

I said it.

29:35

You can find a tape, yo.

29:38

We should be talking about y'all more. But

29:41

you gotta resonate more. Y'all gotta do

29:43

better in support in your own sport. The

29:45

fellas got their sports. This is

29:47

y'all sport ladies. Why don't y'all support

29:49

them more? The tape is there, It's

29:52

in the archives. We ain't talking

29:54

about. It's

29:57

been there. It's

29:59

been there, and

30:04

ever since, that's

30:07

what we've been doing. I

30:11

recall Shaneo Gumika and Andrea Carter coming

30:13

on the show and thanking me not

30:17

just for what I was doing for them, but what I was doing

30:19

for women's sports.

30:24

So for Monica McNutt to go on national television

30:27

and say that it is unfortunate.

30:30

I love her.

30:32

She's a good woman and a

30:34

phenomenal analyst. And I'm

30:36

not throwing any shade on her. I'm

30:38

speaking out because she put

30:41

out a falsehood

30:43

about me live

30:45

on national television on first

30:48

take, and I'm going to clear that record

30:51

that is not true.

30:55

Could I have done more? Well?

30:59

If you're a sport show, in a sports news

31:01

show, you gotta talk about what's

31:03

percolating.

31:04

You got to talk about what's resonating.

31:06

You've got to pay attention to what the masters

31:08

are paying attention to, and the fact of the

31:10

matter is, they weren't paying any attention to

31:12

the WNBA.

31:15

So there's but so much I could do until

31:17

the WNBA did something for itself,

31:20

and in the second there was a sliver of

31:22

an opening to do something.

31:24

More for the sport.

31:25

I have always done something for

31:28

women's basketball and women's sports,

31:30

period. Yet here we are

31:34

on this particular day, and

31:36

I am sitting up here and I'm.

31:38

Google alerts it is. Let

31:40

me play for you. The headlines one headlines.

31:45

USA Today, Monica McNutt

31:47

leaves stephen A Smith speechless.

31:49

Were real talk about first takes WNBA

31:52

coveres That ain't real talk. That's

31:55

the damn point. It's

31:57

not real. It's false.

32:00

But us say today you didn't brought her to pick that up,

32:02

did you? Another one

32:08

ESPN's Fox News ESPN stephen A. Smith says

32:10

another NBA players jealous of Kaitlyn Clark suggests

32:13

racis a part of it.

32:14

You're damn right.

32:16

So people got a problem with a white girl

32:18

who's been labeled the

32:21

savior even before she played

32:23

a game, after they toiled the

32:25

terrain of the WNBA for years.

32:27

It's a natural reaction. It's

32:30

not beneficial. It doesn't need to be something

32:32

they harness in harbor because you can

32:34

maximize the potential of what Caitlyn Clark

32:36

has created. But nevertheless, the resentment

32:39

to some degree is real.

32:42

Not tell you I'm not backtracking from that. Here's

32:45

another headline Athlon

32:47

sports.

32:48

Stephen A.

32:48

Smith left speechless after w

32:51

NBA opinion backlash on

32:53

first take. I'm speechless because

32:55

I didn't want to go nuclear

32:59

on a wonderful,

33:01

wonderful woman like Monica McNutt,

33:04

who I think was false and

33:07

put out a false narrative. That's

33:10

why stephen

33:14

A. Smith Daily Mail of course couldn't

33:16

forget them. God can't forget them.

33:18

Stephen A.

33:18

Smith is slammed by co hosts

33:21

Infurious Exchange Live on the air,

33:24

slammed or

33:31

taken aback by

33:34

the falsehood of

33:36

that accusation. What's

33:40

the matter? That headline is too long to write.

33:45

Do y'all homework check the

33:47

facts. First

33:51

take delivers,

33:56

and we deliver because we run from nothing

34:00

and we try to support everything that comes associated

34:03

with the world of sports.

34:06

I love Monica McNutt dearly and

34:10

I.

34:10

Will always support her. Everybody

34:13

can't be right all the time. Everybody being can't

34:15

be correct. It is by far

34:18

the most disappointing moment I ever had with

34:20

her because

34:22

she didn't just say what she said about

34:25

me. When you're talking about I could

34:27

do more, you're talking about

34:29

first take, and

34:32

we've done more than most

34:35

and.

34:35

We could always do less, but

34:39

we don't because

34:41

we care. And

34:44

I'm gonna leave it at that.

34:47

Let me move on to Steph Curry because

34:50

we gotta get to this because former

34:53

NBA All Star give her a reenus raise

34:55

some eyebrows this weekend over his comments

34:57

about the baby Face Assassin. Listen

35:00

to what Gilbert Arenas said on his podcast,

35:03

Gil's Arena, saying that Curry

35:05

is not a generational talent.

35:07

Here's what Arena had to say. Specifically, look

35:11

at this quote. Steph is not

35:13

a generational talent. Generational

35:15

infers you can mimic it. Can

35:17

you mimic Magic Johnson, a six to nine point

35:19

guard with vision. You can't mimic Lebron

35:22

James. It's about physical attributes. You

35:24

can't mimic Victor Wimbinyanna. Jokic

35:27

is not a generational talent. Curry

35:29

is a great basketball player. Generational

35:32

is something that's once every twenty

35:34

years. When it comes, you're

35:36

like, damn I

35:38

love Gilbert Arenas, loved his podcast Brother

35:41

Knows Basketball. I

35:43

thought he I think he lost his damn mind on this one.

35:47

When have you seen a shooter like Steph Curry in our lifetime?

35:52

I've been on Earth fifty six years. Gilbert

35:55

Arenas is in his thirties.

35:56

I think.

35:59

Talk to shooters every When have you

36:01

seen somebody like Steph Curry off the dribble,

36:03

standing still, twenty thirty, forty

36:05

fifty feet

36:08

on the move, stationary, spot

36:11

up, jump shot, floaters in

36:13

the lane, floaters from thirty feet.

36:16

Left side, right side, top of the key, right

36:18

wing, left wing, it doesn't matter.

36:21

And the ability to create his own shadow, catch a

36:23

shoot.

36:25

Steph Curry is the greatest shoot of God has

36:27

ever created. What do you mean,

36:29

mimic? Who? Who is

36:31

this person?

36:32

Reggie Miller, Allan Houston, Ricky

36:35

Piss dal Ellis Dell,

36:37

Curry is Daddy, Andrew

36:40

Tony, Pete

36:43

Marravitch. That's where we're gonna go, Rick Barry, where

36:45

we gonna do? What are you talking

36:47

about?

36:47

Gildreenas, what are you talking about?

36:50

And by the way,

36:53

I've seen plenty of dudes six

36:56

' nine and built like Lebron.

36:57

They didn't have his game, but they had his body.

37:02

You can't see the wind. Beyannas of the World.

37:04

Y'ao Ming was seven six, Sean

37:07

Bradley was seven four. They just didn't have

37:09

his game. What

37:13

you talking about? They

37:16

ain't seen nobody that can shoot like Steph Curry.

37:20

That is a generational talent. It's

37:22

the greatest shooter God ever created. Magic

37:25

Johnson. I see plenty of dude six y nine built like

37:27

Magic Johnson. They ain't have his game. Who's

37:30

got Steph Curry's game?

37:31

Who's this person? I want

37:33

to meet him? Never seen them?

37:36

I ain't never seen nobody six

37:38

' three that can shoot

37:40

like that. That has brothers

37:43

depressed. When he pulls up and they

37:45

failed to block and shot from thirty

37:47

five feet from the basket, they barely

37:49

look at the rim.

37:50

They're like, damn, he got it off. It's going in.

37:53

He's the greatest shooter God ever created.

37:56

In warmups, he

37:58

runs up the stairs and

38:01

shoots from the tunnel before

38:04

rusted racing into the locker room.

38:07

That's how great he is. This

38:11

is Steph Curry we talking about

38:14

so respectfully.

38:18

I don't know what

38:20

the hell Gilbert

38:22

Arenas is talking.

38:24

About, but I'll listen to other

38:26

people speak about it, go ahead

38:28

and play at Fellas. But Tracks Sports

38:31

says Stephan

38:33

Curry is a top five NBA player

38:35

of all time.

38:37

No, he tripping on that.

38:39

He hasn't cracked my top ten yet.

38:40

He just hasn't.

38:42

I think Steph has had a phenomenal

38:44

career. I mean, obviously four championships,

38:46

two league MVPs, he has a final

38:48

MVP. But if you go back in

38:50

his career and if you look at

38:53

when a dramnd is out of the

38:55

lineup for the season, if you look at Klay

38:57

Thompson has missed the season or for

39:00

that season. To me, if you're that great,

39:02

if you're gonna be a top five and

39:04

one of your guys are missing, you can't make

39:07

the playoffs. I can't put you in the

39:09

top five or top ten. I just can't.

39:11

And that's just my opinion. Greatness to me

39:13

is when one of your guys are out, you still

39:16

gotta elevate your team at least to

39:18

the playoffs. Like they don't even make the

39:20

playoffs. Win Clay or Draymond

39:22

is out of the lineups and they haven't

39:24

won a play in game at all.

39:27

So he top five no chance

39:29

not.

39:29

That makes sense when

39:32

you think about guys Lebron MJ,

39:34

Kareem, Abdul Jabal, you

39:37

know, the Elijah

39:39

Ones of the world, that Shaquille O'Neills of

39:41

the world.

39:42

People like that Kobe.

39:43

Of course, sure you can make

39:45

an argument to push Steph

39:48

Curry out the top five. Fine,

39:50

I'm not gonna not t

39:53

mac for that, because again,

39:55

when Clay was out go to State didn't resemble

39:58

itself. When Draymond's been out Go to State, they

40:00

didn't resemble themselves.

40:01

I got that part.

40:04

So Steph might need.

40:05

More as a six ' to three shooter extraordinary,

40:07

but don't tell me he ain't a generational talent. That's

40:10

going too far. I can't

40:13

believe that came out of Gilbert

40:15

Aarena's his mouth. I don't agree

40:17

with him on that one. Brother, No basketball

40:19

though, ain't no shade this

40:21

way. Got love for gil I'm just saying that

40:23

particular take naw, I'm not vibing.

40:25

With that, bro. I gotta disagree

40:27

with that. Now.

40:32

Let me take just a few seconds to make sure everyone

40:35

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Guess what, it's really

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really really that easy.

41:37

Last topic before I get to my man, Jason Kidd,

41:39

head coach for the Dallas Mavericks.

41:41

Who's coming on to the show today.

41:43

Justin Jefferson, star wide receiver for the Minnesota

41:46

Vikings. He is now officially

41:48

the highest paid non quarterback ever

41:54

getting to the NFL. It's

41:56

a payday for him. The three time NFL

41:58

Pro Bowler just reset the receiver mark look at

42:00

this season by agreeing to a record one hundred and

42:02

forty million dollar deal to stay with the Minnesota

42:04

Vikings. The deal includes one hundred and ten million

42:06

guaranteed, making Jefferson the highest paid non

42:09

quarterback in NFL history. Jefferson

42:11

announced the news himself on social media, saying

42:14

this is the deal he's been waiting for since he was

42:16

a little kid.

42:17

As mentioned, the.

42:18

Deal resets the wide receiver market where

42:20

Cowboys wide receiver CD Lamb now awaits

42:22

his turn. A couple of things to get out of the way. Number

42:24

one, CD Lamb, you don't deserve what Justin Jefferson is getting.

42:27

Let's get that out of the way right now. You're a bad

42:29

brother. You deserve your bag, you deserve to get paid,

42:31

but you do not deserve what Justin

42:34

Jefferson got. Uh uh, you don't

42:36

deserve his money. If you're Jamar

42:39

Chase, you can't make the legitimate argument

42:41

that you did help Joe Burrow

42:43

get to a super Bowl. You can also make

42:45

a legitimate argument that t Higgins might not be

42:47

there. So guess what, give me the bag.

42:50

But the bottom line is this, Justin

42:52

Jefferson deserves his bag, especially with Kirk

42:55

Cousin's going with you having a rookie quarterback with the

42:57

offense and its success or its resumed success

42:59

being predicated on his excellence. You damn

43:01

right, he deserves his money. Four years in the National Football

43:04

League. Last year only played in ten games,

43:06

got hurt, still had over one thousand yards to sue.

43:08

Seasons before that, okay,

43:11

eighteen hundred yards, sixteen hundred yards.

43:13

Okay, second season sixteen hundred

43:15

yards, third season eighteen hundred yards.

43:17

The brother's phenomenal. He deserves

43:19

his bag.

43:20

I'm happy for him, but seeedee lamb, get

43:22

your paper, but I don't want to hear all

43:24

my goodness. Dallas offered me one hundred and five,

43:27

so that means, you know what is short,

43:29

because Justin Jefferson got ten to one hundred

43:31

and ten guarantees so I deserve one hundred

43:33

and eleven or one hundred and fifteen.

43:35

Damn that you do not be

43:37

happy we're getting a little less.

43:39

I'm not saying you deserve a lot less than Justin Jefferson,

43:42

but you deserve a little less. Stop

43:44

that nonsense. Now get the bag. Get

43:47

the bag. You ain't number one he is,

43:50

So let's get that straight.

43:51

All right?

43:53

Coming up, Deontay Wilder suffers

43:56

another knockout?

43:59

Should he call it quick? I'll get

44:01

into that.

44:02

Plus, as I previously stated, Mavericks

44:04

head coach, the one and only Jason Kidd joins

44:07

the show.

44:08

Stick around. iHeartRadio on

44:10

the audio side YouTube on the video

44:12

side, The Stephen A. Smith Show is everywhere

44:14

we like it. Like that.

44:16

Jason Kidd up next in a minute.

44:26

Welcome back to the Stephen A.

44:26

Smith Show right here over the digital airwaves of YouTube.

44:29

I couldn't wait to talk to my next guest. He is

44:31

a ten tom All star who led

44:34

the New Jersey Nets back in the day to back

44:36

to back NBA Finals appearances in two thousand

44:38

and two in two thousand and three. He eventually

44:40

won an NBA title in twenty eleven. After

44:42

returning to Dallas who originally drafted him

44:45

back in nineteen ninety four. Now

44:47

he's leading the same franchise,

44:49

the Dallas Mavericks, back to the NBA

44:51

Finals, this time as a head coach.

44:54

He is one of the greatest point guards

44:56

in the history of the NBA.

45:00

He's the reigning champion for the Western Conference.

45:02

Please welcome to one and only Jason Kidd

45:04

to the show.

45:05

What's going on? Big Time? How are you coach? How's everything?

45:08

I'm doing great? Stephen A.

45:09

I'm not big time, but I'm happy that you

45:12

found the small people to come on the show.

45:14

Well, listen, we know better than that. You could

45:16

be humble all you want to.

45:17

Dammit, you one of the greatest point guards in the history of the game,

45:19

So I'm gonna call you that. But I got to

45:21

ask you coaching all seriousness, when you

45:24

think about where you are right now,

45:26

being in the NBA Finals as

45:28

a head coach, in this short

45:30

stint, just a few years you've been coaching the Dallas Mavericks,

45:33

what does this feel like for you right now?

45:34

It's surreal.

45:35

I mean, it's a moment that

45:38

we can only dream about and that dreams

45:40

do come true. But it's just, you

45:42

know, having the opportunity to represent

45:45

the Dallas Mavericks. I was drafted

45:47

as you, brought up by Dallas, won a

45:50

championship with Dallas, and now

45:52

have opportunity as a coach

45:55

to win a championship. And it's

45:57

just I'm very honored but also

46:00

just surreal to be able to

46:02

have this moment.

46:03

When did you feel like

46:05

this particular team could

46:07

get to the NBA Finals.

46:10

I don't know if there was just one moment, you

46:12

know that we thought we can make it to the finals.

46:14

I think that was Game

46:17

five against Minnesota. But

46:20

before that, I thought the team, you

46:22

know, in March started to become

46:24

a team on both sides of the

46:26

ball, offensively and defensively.

46:29

I thought when we made the trade and got PJ

46:31

and Gafford gave us depth, more

46:34

athletic, being able

46:36

to play and score with both of those

46:38

guys. But again,

46:40

when you talk about Luca and Kai, I

46:42

thought, you know, come March, I thought

46:45

we really started to, you know, go in the right direction

46:47

on both ends of the ball.

46:48

You know, coach, When I look at this team right now, I thought

46:51

about last year and I thought about how essentially

46:53

y'alling make the playoffs and everybody was making

46:55

so much noise about it was something that you guys

46:57

didn't want to do in terms of participating in the play

47:00

in tournament. I looked at the team

47:02

right there. There was no gaffer, there was no PJ. Washington.

47:04

Obviously Kyrie was approaching free agency

47:06

to some degree. We were looking at all of

47:09

those things, and I was wondering about

47:11

this franchise and.

47:11

What success it could enjoy in the future.

47:14

What was your mindset like at that particular

47:16

moment in time when last season ended, looking

47:18

at this team, fantasizing about

47:20

this upcoming season. What were your thoughts

47:23

about the team and the immediate aftermath at

47:25

the end of the regular season last year and

47:27

going into the offseason.

47:28

Yeah, you know, at the end of last

47:30

year, we didn't

47:32

play well enough to make it to the

47:35

playing tournament. We didn't qualify

47:37

for the top six in

47:39

the Washington Conference to make the playoffs,

47:42

and so I think with the plan

47:45

of being able to go into the

47:47

lottery to address

47:49

some of the needs. I know we always talk about the

47:51

live but also in that first

47:54

round we were able to get Omax,

47:57

who's been hurt but also participating

47:59

in our our g league. We

48:01

felt we got younger and more athletic. And

48:04

then I thought with the

48:06

plan, I thought Nico did an

48:08

incredible job of addressing

48:10

some of the issues that we had, you

48:13

know, being able to get more athletic. Uh,

48:15

we were able to get d Jones and

48:18

exem and so we felt like, uh,

48:20

you know, signing Grant as a free agent, we

48:23

felt that we got better. And that understanding

48:26

that to build a championship team.

48:28

Uh, you know, it takes time. It wasn't

48:30

gonna happen overnight. We

48:32

did lose Brunson to New

48:34

York to your Knicks, and so, uh,

48:37

we we had to make some adjustments.

48:39

And I thought no one panicked. I thought,

48:42

from Cuban to Nico, no

48:44

one was panicking. It was about building a

48:46

championship team. And and that's what we're

48:48

doing right now.

48:49

I'm looking at Luka Dancik right now, coach,

48:51

and I think a legitimate argument could be made

48:54

that we we First of all, it's two things.

48:56

Number One, that the best three players

48:59

on a planet ar nicole A Jokic,

49:02

Giannis Ante Decumpo and

49:04

Luka Doncik. And right now,

49:06

with y'all in the NBA Finals, there's a lot

49:08

of talk about Luka Doncik possibly

49:11

emerging as the best player

49:13

in the world. One of the greatest things

49:15

that I don't think has said enough about you

49:18

is what a great talent

49:20

evaluator you are and

49:22

how you've surrounded yourself with people that

49:24

are great talent evaluators and

49:26

great talent developers.

49:29

Could you put in your words.

49:31

What it's like to coach Luka Doncik

49:33

and what he brings to the table, some of which

49:35

we all have seen, other

49:38

things that only a keen eye like

49:40

yours would probably see.

49:42

Yeah, when you talk about Luca, I've

49:45

always said this, you know, we never

49:47

want to take anyone for granted. He

49:49

is so talented being

49:52

able to score the ball, from being

49:54

able to post up off the dribble, catch

49:56

and shoot, he can make all

49:58

the passes and so to

50:00

be able to have that talent and

50:03

his will to win,

50:05

you know, even if you're down five

50:08

points with ten seconds, he believes

50:11

that he can find a way to

50:13

win. And so when you're around this on

50:15

the daily as a coach,

50:17

I just want to help him make the game easy

50:20

for him. And so when we talk about

50:23

not just the offensive end, but now

50:25

he's participating on the defensive end.

50:27

He knows that teams are going to

50:29

put him in the pick and roll and bring him up

50:31

and try to wear him down. And

50:33

so you can see that he has

50:36

gotten better in each series, and we expect

50:38

Boston to do the same thing. But

50:40

his competition. He loves

50:42

the stage. As the stage gets bigger,

50:45

his game gets better. And

50:47

that's a rare thing

50:49

to have when you talk about DNA,

50:52

he has it.

50:53

Coach, how much do you think you've helped him personally?

50:56

I know that's not something that you want to give yourself credit

50:58

for, particularly for a god that has been played and

51:01

Pro Bowl in Europe since the time he was thirteen or fourteen

51:03

years of age. But as great as Luca is, there

51:06

does seem to be a distinct difference between

51:08

him now and or from

51:10

what we've seen.

51:11

Over the last few years.

51:12

What do you believe Jason Kidd has

51:15

done to help his game come along?

51:18

Well, I think just calmness. You know,

51:20

there's no panic. I trust and

51:23

believe in Luca. You

51:25

know, even if he misses a

51:27

shot or turns it over, I truly believe

51:30

that he's going to find a way to

51:32

help us win. And you

51:34

know, just understanding again, my

51:36

eyes and ears are here to help

51:38

him make the game easy. He sees

51:41

the game as well as anyone, but

51:43

again having fun, reminding

51:46

him to smile and have fun and enjoy

51:48

this because you're not guaranteed

51:51

to always make it to the finals

51:53

or the Western Conference finals or you

51:55

know, win fifty games, so to enjoy

51:57

this and then also try to push,

52:00

you know, to try to get him to be better. We

52:03

talked about that last summer, you know, as

52:05

as a team, what can we do better?

52:08

I asked him, can we play faster? He said, yes,

52:10

we got to take the ball out faster, and

52:12

so he was. He was for that,

52:15

and I thought it helped his game so that he didn't

52:17

have to wrestle for forty minutes

52:19

with someone, you know, picking him up full court.

52:22

Again, great players want to be coached,

52:24

and he's one of those great players that wants to be coaching.

52:27

I'm very lucky to have that.

52:28

You were a guy when you were a player, coach

52:30

that you know, you you weren't seen talking

52:33

a lot. You performed, and you performed at a very

52:35

elite level, but you didn't have much to say

52:38

at least the scene that way for

52:40

those that weren't sitting court side or anything

52:42

like that. In the case of Luka Doncik, you could be

52:44

in the upper decks.

52:46

It don't matter.

52:46

You see this dude talking to

52:49

opponents. I mean for him to

52:51

come out there in Game five and

52:53

scorch the Minnesota Timberwolves the way that he

52:55

did after struggling in Game four with seven to twenty

52:58

one shooting, for him to turn over at

53:00

the bench and talking smack to them, for him

53:02

to abuse them while talking to them,

53:05

it is not something you see too often

53:08

transpire in today's NBA game,

53:10

at.

53:10

Least not on that level.

53:12

How do you feel when you see Luca

53:15

doing that, because it just says to me,

53:17

damn, he's busting their living, you know what, and

53:19

there's really.

53:20

Nothing they could do about it.

53:21

He's not just beating them, he's demoralizing

53:24

them, snatching their hearts from out of their

53:26

chest. That's what I saw him doing at Game five against

53:28

Minnesota. What is that like for you as a

53:30

coach and a coaching box, seeing your player do that

53:32

to their opposition.

53:34

Yeah, you know, I think when you talk about Game

53:36

five and his talk

53:40

on the floor reminded me of Game seven

53:42

and Phoenix just sit

53:45

back and watch because he's about to, you

53:47

know, take us on a ride. And

53:50

you know when he came out and was shooting

53:52

the ball, you know the way that he did. You

53:54

know, you said, oh, well, we're gonna

53:56

leave him in for the whole game because he's just going

53:58

at a high level. And you

54:00

could see he wanted to end

54:03

that game and in that series before

54:05

halftime, and that's what he did. But

54:07

it's just incredible. Again,

54:10

as I talked about, he's not afraid of the stage.

54:12

He's not afraid to talk either,

54:15

because he believes that he can back it up. But

54:18

you know, I think one that he loves to

54:20

talk to the crowd, to

54:22

the players, to the officials, and

54:25

I think that really gets him going when he does

54:27

that.

54:27

I got to transition to Kyrie Irvin because

54:30

we all know that I've been critical of Kyrie

54:32

Irving in the past. I've marveled at him

54:34

this year. I think he's been nothing short

54:36

of sensational. I think he's put the basketball

54:39

world on notice, reminding the world of

54:41

how great he truly is and how

54:43

special he is. I also think he's been

54:45

a great leader because you can see how

54:48

deferential the players are to him from time

54:50

to time, even Luca in certain moments

54:52

and what have you. And it's a beautiful, beautiful

54:54

thing to see. I give you a lot of credit for

54:56

that as well, because you highlight it to a lot

54:59

of us. You aren't talking about

55:01

me in this particular situation. You would talk about some

55:03

other issues that were transpiring about just

55:05

overall the negativity that

55:08

was being aimed in the direction of your

55:10

players and of the franchise.

55:12

I want to know when you, when you.

55:15

You know, recall that and you think

55:17

back to that, what your mentality

55:20

was like and how and did you have any idea

55:22

that it would help your team.

55:24

As much as it ended up helping them? Because

55:26

so many people.

55:27

Have gravitated towards the positive about your

55:29

team, did you think about that at all?

55:31

No, I think, you know, the big thing is there's

55:34

enough negative in the world. And

55:36

so when we talk about Kai, I

55:39

think sometimes we uh,

55:41

you know, get stuck on a negative.

55:43

But again, when you look at his basketball,

55:46

his skill set, uh, you see,

55:48

his peers will say that he's one of

55:50

the you know, if not the best pound

55:52

for pound basketball player in the

55:54

world. His skill set

55:56

is like no other. It's a beautiful thing

55:58

to watch. Again, I've

56:01

said this publicly. I think his calmness

56:04

with his teammates when things can

56:06

be a little hectic or people are starting to panic

56:08

a little bit, he just brings this calmness

56:11

in this confidence that people will gravitate

56:13

to. And again

56:16

he delivers, and

56:18

also he enjoys that

56:20

that positivity. And again I

56:22

brought it up that, you know, publicly, can

56:25

we just look at some of the positive things that

56:27

he's doing on and off the floor. And

56:30

I thought that started snowball and started

56:32

to turn not just the

56:36

team around, but also just the narrative

56:38

that we were, you know, not a negative

56:40

franchise, but this was a positive thing and

56:43

we're living it. And he's

56:45

lived up to everything that Nico and

56:47

I and Cuban thought when we made

56:49

the trade that he was able to do. And

56:51

we're gonna get We're gonna need him in this next

56:54

series to play at a high level

56:56

for us if we have any chance of winning.

56:58

You know a thing or two about elite play as

57:00

one of the great guards in NBA history

57:03

as a small guard, is Kyrie

57:06

Irving the greatest small guard we're talking about

57:08

Isaiah Thomas talk about na tiny Archibal, We're talking about

57:10

Alan Iverson, We're talking about all of these guys. Some

57:12

people, a lot of people are looking at Kyrie Irving

57:14

and calling him the greatest small guard in the

57:16

history of basketball.

57:18

How do you feel about that?

57:19

I think it's a great compliment those

57:22

names that you just mentioned.

57:24

What what what? What's the small guard? Well?

57:26

How tall do you have to be? Because at my.

57:28

Six one, six to two, about

57:34

six to six to a smaller six to

57:36

a.

57:36

Smaller fifty

57:39

one, I'm shrinking, So I think i'm six too. But

57:41

my stats are good enough. But I think we

57:43

talk about Kai, he's

57:46

going to be right there.

57:47

At one A.

57:48

You know, understanding Ai again,

57:51

being able to play against Ai, and the

57:53

things that he did on the floor were at

57:55

a high level. But I

57:57

think Kai would be my choice. Could

57:59

be biased, but I think when you look

58:02

at Kai Ai and Isaiah

58:04

Thomas, you know, these are great

58:06

individual players that knew

58:09

how to score.

58:10

They were all winners.

58:11

But when you talk about Kai being

58:13

able to finish with both hands,

58:16

it's just incredible what he does

58:18

with the ball in small spaces.

58:20

Where do Luke and Kyrie together rank

58:22

among the best backcourts ever? And how high

58:25

could a title elevate them in your mind?

58:27

You know, that's a great question.

58:29

And there's I know a stan

58:31

Van Gunny started this and

58:33

I thought I would say that

58:35

they were, you know, high on

58:37

the list of being

58:39

a tandem. I know, Steph

58:42

and Clay. There was

58:44

debates of Clay,

58:47

you know, put it on the floor and get his own shot.

58:50

But when you're talking about the tandems

58:53

of Magic and b Scott, the

58:55

tandems of Luca and Kai, Stephan

58:58

and Clay, I mean, you can't

59:01

go wrong if you say one of those are number

59:03

one, because, uh,

59:05

they all can score the ball, they're all winners.

59:08

And I think, uh, this tandem

59:10

here when you talk about Kayle Luca, if they can

59:12

get to the finish line, Uh, they're gonna

59:14

put themselves right there at the top of that list.

59:17

Coach, let's get into the series a little bit. How are

59:19

you gonna win the series? How are you gonna beat the Boston Celtics.

59:22

Boston's well coached and they you

59:24

know when you talk about you know they've been

59:27

there before. You talk about

59:29

the tandem of Tatum and Brown,

59:31

Uh, they put a lot of pressure on your defense.

59:33

And so for us, Uh, we

59:35

got to try to find a way to just take care of the

59:38

ball, get good looks. Again,

59:41

we're gonna have to try to you know, defend the three.

59:43

Uh they shoot, they all shoot the three. They're all

59:46

lasers, and so, uh, this is

59:48

gonna be this is gonna be a great test for our

59:50

defense. And so hopefully we

59:52

can find a way to uh, you know, get

59:54

the threes down uh and take

59:56

away you know, easy easy shots

59:58

for them. But again, we got to take care

1:00:01

of the ball and get good looks ourselves on the offensive

1:00:03

end.

1:00:03

Kristaps Porzingis, a former member of the Dallas

1:00:06

Mavericks, is now a member of the Boston Celtics.

1:00:08

This you know, a lot of news or that he's

1:00:10

scheduled to play and what have you. How

1:00:12

much of a difference can he

1:00:15

make? I know he's coming off the calf injury. As a calf

1:00:17

injury, this deemed to be, you know, similar

1:00:19

to what Kevin Durant suffered from before

1:00:22

ultimately tearing his achilles once he

1:00:24

showed up in the NBA finals.

1:00:25

So we don't know what the deal is.

1:00:27

But when you look at Porzingis and what the Boston

1:00:29

Celtics are with him, compared to what

1:00:31

they are without him. Could you like

1:00:34

decipher and and dissect

1:00:36

that for my viewers and listeners out there

1:00:38

as to what it would be like for the Dallas Mavericks going

1:00:40

up against the team with porzingis compared to a Boss

1:00:43

and Celtics team without him.

1:00:44

Yeah, when you talk about with him, KP

1:00:47

is another weapon where you

1:00:49

talk about offensively, he his

1:00:51

range is extremely deep. He shoots to three

1:00:54

at a high percentage. He can

1:00:56

post up with the switch. Again,

1:00:59

a lot of people defensively won't talk about

1:01:01

his defense, but again he's

1:01:03

one that will change or block shot, So you

1:01:05

got to account for him. And so with

1:01:08

him on the floor, it just makes him

1:01:10

that much better and deeper. And so

1:01:13

if he's healthy and able to go again,

1:01:15

he puts a lot of pressure on our defense with

1:01:18

his ability to pop and shoot the three

1:01:20

and then also being able to put it on the floor

1:01:23

and be able to pass, but also to be able

1:01:25

to get to the rim. And so for us,

1:01:27

it's gonna, you know, again put a lot of pressure on

1:01:29

our defense without him that

1:01:32

you know, Horford and those guys are going to have to play

1:01:34

you know, more minutes. But as you can

1:01:36

see, in this last series, they played without

1:01:39

him and they played well.

1:01:40

You know, I look at you guys right now, and I think about

1:01:42

you know, this has been a debate about the X factor

1:01:44

is Gaffard's been tremendous as far as I'm so has

1:01:47

lively. I'm praying he doesn't get knocked upside

1:01:49

the back of his head for a third time he's gotten

1:01:51

there. He got hit twice, first when the knee by call

1:01:54

Anthony Towns, and then you know, and then

1:01:56

another hit. I'm just praying he doesn't get hit

1:01:58

in the back of his head again. I want him healthy and ready

1:02:00

to roll, of course, but I

1:02:02

gotta tell you, I'm thinking PJ. Washington

1:02:05

is the key to this series. This brother

1:02:07

in his corner threes. You can't leave

1:02:09

him open. He did really well against

1:02:11

OKC in the semifinals, not so much in

1:02:13

the conference finals, but he's still

1:02:15

a big time threat. I went on the air

1:02:17

this morning to declared the PJ Washington hits

1:02:19

his threes, Dallas wins the championship. I

1:02:21

know it's not that simplistic. I know it's far

1:02:24

more complicated than that, but how

1:02:26

much of a plus would it be for

1:02:28

you if PJ shooting

1:02:30

from three looks the way he looked against

1:02:32

the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference semifinal

1:02:34

series.

1:02:36

Yeah, I think when you talk about PJ, you

1:02:38

know, being able to knock down the three

1:02:41

that corner three because of Luca

1:02:43

and Kai, you know, getting double teams. PJ

1:02:46

has been great since the trade for us,

1:02:48

not just offensively but defensively. This

1:02:51

young man plays the game the right way.

1:02:53

He never complains, He goes

1:02:55

out there and does his job at a high level. And

1:02:58

so we're gonna need him to score the ball

1:03:00

again. We believe we'll be able to get

1:03:02

some open looks, but also for

1:03:05

his ability to put the ball on the floor and get

1:03:07

to the basket. It's something that we're gonna need in

1:03:09

this series. And Uh, again,

1:03:11

if he's knocking down those threes, that definitely

1:03:13

helps our offense.

1:03:14

Who are you concerned most about on Boston?

1:03:16

Is it Tatum? Is it Jalen Brown? I know it's both

1:03:18

of them to some degree, But is there somebody

1:03:20

that you concerned that you're more concerned about

1:03:22

than the other?

1:03:23

Well, I'm concerned about both of those highly.

1:03:26

When you talk about Tatum and Brown, Uh,

1:03:28

they put a lot of pressure on your defense, being able

1:03:30

to score and then also being able to

1:03:32

find the open guy.

1:03:34

Uh.

1:03:34

The other gentleman that you know we're all concerned

1:03:36

about here in Dallas is

1:03:39

White. When you talk about his ability

1:03:41

to shoot the three. Uh, you

1:03:43

know, again, he's one that a

1:03:45

lot of times goes under the radar. But when

1:03:48

he's able to knock down threes and he gets

1:03:50

a lot of looks at him, Uh, it takes

1:03:52

their offense to another level. So again,

1:03:55

Uh, they got a lot of lasers out there. We got to

1:03:57

be able to guard the three. But White is one

1:04:00

that we are concerned about.

1:04:02

Coach a couple more questions before I'll let you get on out

1:04:04

of here, and thanks again for your time to one of the lorde

1:04:06

Jason Kidd, head coach for the Dallas Mavericks right here on

1:04:08

the Steven A.

1:04:08

Smith Show.

1:04:09

You know, on a personal level, you're

1:04:11

coached in Brooklyn in the twenty thirteen twenty

1:04:13

fourteen season. I wanted you to be the head coach of the Knicks,

1:04:16

but we won't go there. You're left there, and then

1:04:18

you went to Milwaukee for four years. I still

1:04:20

wanted you to the Knick. You didn't go there, and

1:04:22

then I ended up being an assistant coach with the

1:04:24

Lakers. I wanted you to win the New York knixt that and

1:04:26

they didn't come get you there. It pissed me off even

1:04:28

more. And now here you are in the last

1:04:31

three years in Dallas,

1:04:33

and you've been through a lot throughout

1:04:35

your coaching career in terms of your

1:04:38

movement and what have you. What level

1:04:40

of validation, if any at all, is

1:04:42

this for you in terms of player

1:04:44

development and in terms of player relations,

1:04:47

coaching players, God in them, et cetera, et cetera.

1:04:49

How are you feeling.

1:04:50

About you at this stage

1:04:53

and point in your career, considering all

1:04:55

that you've been through and now validating

1:04:58

it all with what you've accomplished.

1:05:00

Yeah, I think one, I'm excited

1:05:02

about the opportunity. I think when you talk

1:05:04

about those stops we have improved

1:05:07

in each spot you or that I've been

1:05:09

able to coach. When we talk about Brooklyn,

1:05:12

you know, being able to win Game seven

1:05:15

as a rookie coach there, losing

1:05:18

to the Heat in that next series,

1:05:21

going to Milwaukee who only had won

1:05:23

twelve or thirteen games a year before and ended

1:05:25

up winning forty one, and

1:05:27

then being able to be around Giannis

1:05:30

and feel like I, you know, helped

1:05:32

there with his development

1:05:35

a little bit, but he did the work, but you

1:05:37

know, I felt that I could help him get to the next

1:05:40

level. And then being able

1:05:42

to go to La and learn from Frank Bogo

1:05:44

to understand uh and then

1:05:47

being able to win a championship with Lebron

1:05:49

and ad in that group, it was

1:05:51

it was you know, that was not an easy championship

1:05:53

in the bubble, but it was a lot of fun.

1:05:56

And as a coach, I got to learn a

1:05:58

lot from Frank and then here to

1:06:00

be able to you know, come

1:06:02

my first year in Dallas

1:06:04

and get to the Western Conference uh you

1:06:06

know finals and lose to Golden

1:06:08

State and the World champs. We felt

1:06:11

like we were going in the right direction. We

1:06:14

lost a young player to

1:06:16

your knicks, Bronson, but to be

1:06:18

around Bronson and Luca that

1:06:20

first year was a lot of fun. And then to

1:06:23

you know, be able to get Kai

1:06:25

and now be back in the Western

1:06:27

Conference finals and win there,

1:06:29

and then now to take a step

1:06:31

forward to get to the finals and

1:06:34

see what happens. But as a coach,

1:06:36

you're always trying to get better, and

1:06:38

I've had the opportunity to do that in different

1:06:40

places, and I'm happy to be here in Dallas

1:06:42

and hopefully, you know, as a player,

1:06:45

I've won a championship, and hopefully as a head coach

1:06:48

I can win a championship. But I've won a championship

1:06:50

as a coach and so you

1:06:53

know, as an assistant coach, but now hopefully

1:06:55

I can win one as a head coach.

1:06:57

Coach, Man, I know you got to run your busy. Thank

1:06:59

you so much for your time, man, I really really appreciate

1:07:01

it.

1:07:01

Man, good luck. I'll see you in a couple of days. Obviously,

1:07:04

working for ABC.

1:07:04

I'll be covering the NBA Finals, so I'll definitely

1:07:06

see you in a couple of days. Man, thank you so much.

1:07:08

Man, you take care of yourself for right now. I'll see you in a couple of days.

1:07:11

Thank you Stephen for having me the.

1:07:13

One and only Jason Kidd right here on the Steven A. Smith

1:07:15

Show. Listen. I wasn't exaggerating. I wanted that man

1:07:17

to be the coach of the next few years. He knows that.

1:07:19

I mean, it's ridiculous that the New York Knicks pass up

1:07:21

and then we got Tom Thibodeaux. Now, so I mean we can't

1:07:24

complain about that because the man is proving to be a hell

1:07:26

of a coach. He did a hell of a job this year. But

1:07:28

I'm a huge Jason Kid fan. I ain't apologizing

1:07:31

him for that. For a damn soul, that man can

1:07:33

coach. And I'm not there

1:07:35

yet. I haven't made by decision yet. I still

1:07:37

got a couple of days. But I'm leaning

1:07:39

towards Dallas winning this series. And i

1:07:41

know Bosson has been the best team in basketball all year

1:07:44

long. But what I'm seeing from Luken, what

1:07:46

I'm seeing from Kyrie, and what I'm thinking about what

1:07:48

I'm seeing, Ah,

1:07:50

I don't know what I'm gonna do yet.

1:07:52

I don't know.

1:07:53

It's a Pickham series. To me, it go

1:07:55

either way. I'm very very nervous about it.

1:07:57

It's gonna be a thriller, though, make no mistake

1:07:59

about it. I can't wait to be there. I think it's one

1:08:01

of the best NBA Finals

1:08:03

series, if not the best NBA

1:08:06

Final series in the last

1:08:08

decade plus.

1:08:10

I really mean that, I really really

1:08:12

mean that.

1:08:13

Maybe Miami San Antonio one,

1:08:16

not the second one, the first one, maybe

1:08:18

that was better. Maybe maybe

1:08:21

all right, Boston La

1:08:23

No doubt Kobe and the

1:08:26

Crew against KG and Pierce

1:08:29

and Ray Allen and Rondo in two thousand

1:08:31

and eight and then again in twenty ten. Okay,

1:08:33

I get that, But since

1:08:35

twenty ten, I'm not

1:08:37

sure that any

1:08:40

series has been as

1:08:42

compelling as this one coming up.

1:08:44

Y'all, KD was

1:08:46

gonna Golden State. We knew they were gonna win.

1:08:50

Now, if you want to go with Steph Curry and those boys

1:08:52

when Lebron and them came back from a three to one.

1:08:54

Deficit, you go right ahead.

1:08:56

But if it wasn't for that stimulus

1:08:58

package handed to Lebron by

1:09:00

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver for trading

1:09:03

suspended rather you know Draymond

1:09:06

Green because he got issued that additional tech

1:09:08

and then he had accumulated enough text where he

1:09:10

ultimately had to sit out Game five. And then

1:09:12

in that same game five, Andrew Bogan and Andre

1:09:14

Eagle Dollar got hurt, which is what propelled

1:09:16

Cleveland to be able to come back from a three to one definition.

1:09:19

They were supposed to win that at five. Remember go to Stay

1:09:21

won that game four in Cleveland, and we're

1:09:23

going back to the Oracle in Oakland.

1:09:25

To close out game five.

1:09:26

If Draymond Green had played that game, they

1:09:28

had won, So

1:09:31

ask how I look at it.

1:09:32

I'm not sold.

1:09:33

I think this series between

1:09:35

the Boss and Celtics and the Dallas Mavericks is the most

1:09:37

compelling NBA Finals series in

1:09:39

the last fourteen years outside

1:09:42

of Miami San Antonio.

1:09:44

Part one.

1:09:45

That's just me. That's

1:09:48

just me coming up. I'm

1:09:50

talking about the UFC and boxing

1:09:53

where there were two upsets this weekend.

1:09:56

Actually neither was really an upset if

1:09:58

you really really think about it. We're just

1:10:00

upset that it happened, But it wasn't it upset.

1:10:03

See the difference. I'll get into that and

1:10:05

more.

1:10:05

Up next day. Right there, you watch it Stephen

1:10:07

A.

1:10:07

Smith Show and listening to it as well,

1:10:10

right here over the digital airwaves of YouTube and

1:10:13

I Heart Radio back on

1:10:15

the Morning Minute.

1:10:20

Welcome back to Steven ex Smith Show right here with the digital

1:10:22

airwaves of YouTube. Can't thanks the one and only

1:10:24

Jason Kidd, head coach for the Dallas Mavericks, the reigning

1:10:26

defending Western Conference champion Dallas

1:10:29

Mavericks, so much for coming on to the show. Really

1:10:31

really appreciate his time to man as a very very

1:10:33

busy man. Needless to say, but let me transition

1:10:35

before I get on out of here, to a couple of subjects that I

1:10:37

wanted to tackle, mainly a

1:10:39

couple of things. Number one was the UFC fight

1:10:42

that took place this Saturday night where

1:10:44

islam Man Kajev beat

1:10:46

Dustin Poorier. I got

1:10:49

to get into some boxing and of course the UFC

1:10:52

because those are the things that got my attention right

1:10:54

now, and this is where I wanted to start, Okay, so bear

1:10:56

with me. He defeated Dustin Poorier in a thrilling

1:10:59

five round went to retain his lightweight

1:11:01

title. Late in the fifth round, Markashev

1:11:03

got Poorier in a chokehold that forced him

1:11:05

to tap out. Now some are calling for Markashev

1:11:08

to take on Connor McGregor. That's

1:11:11

the subject they're all focusing on. Here's

1:11:15

where I'm at with it. Damn that I

1:11:17

have.

1:11:17

No interest in that shit whatsoever, and

1:11:19

neither should you.

1:11:21

Dana White, my man, Please, whatever

1:11:23

you do, do not have

1:11:26

that fight. We don't want to see it. First

1:11:28

things first, Connor MacGregor needs to get back Michael Channle.

1:11:30

We get past Michael Chandler. I think he'll

1:11:32

clip him personally. But Connor McGregor can get

1:11:35

chipped, he can get clipped. Chandler

1:11:37

can punch now okay, and

1:11:40

the brother has the potential to win big fights.

1:11:43

He can lose him too. He's a bit wild

1:11:45

and Poorier pointed that out. And now Connor

1:11:47

will measure him, time them, clip him.

1:11:49

Put him to sleep. We all know that's possible.

1:11:53

But when it comes to Makchev,

1:11:56

this is a protoj of

1:11:58

the great have been in the Omega meta off. Remember

1:12:01

that guy that went into the octagon against Connor

1:12:03

McGregor. Remember the guy that mauled

1:12:05

Connor McGregor for the better part of their four

1:12:08

round match that he won by submission

1:12:10

when Connor tapped out.

1:12:12

Remember that Connor is a striker.

1:12:16

If you're talking about.

1:12:17

Putting Connor McGregor back into octagon against

1:12:19

a striker like Michael Chandler, I'm good with that.

1:12:21

I'm good with that.

1:12:22

Because he could hit, He could get hit, but he could also

1:12:24

hit. He could get clip but he could

1:12:26

also clip you. So that's where

1:12:28

I'm at with it. But if you're talking about

1:12:31

Connor McGregor getting into that octagon

1:12:33

with a monster like Marcus Jeff who only has one

1:12:36

loss in his career. Okay,

1:12:39

the brother's a monster. He's

1:12:41

the Krem Dela Krem. He's elite, he's number

1:12:43

one in the world right now, and

1:12:46

he's a grappler. He's not

1:12:48

looking to stand toe to toe with you and swing

1:12:50

punches. That's not what he's looking

1:12:52

to do. What he's looking

1:12:54

to do is to take you down. What

1:12:57

he's willing to do is to grapple you.

1:12:59

What he's willing to use was get you into a choke code.

1:13:01

He's in the fifth round.

1:13:03

I mean, there were several times when he tried to go after the great

1:13:05

Dustin Poria, because Portia is a bad brother. He

1:13:07

might be the greatest fighter to have never won a championship.

1:13:09

I mean, we gotta take that into consideration. But

1:13:12

let me tell you something right now, he's

1:13:15

a strike himself. He can do other things, but

1:13:17

he's a striker himself. The Brother Special

1:13:21

and Marx Jeff just went after them and tried

1:13:23

to get him to the ground and did it a couple of times,

1:13:25

but ultimately Dustin Pooria got out of it. You know

1:13:27

how he got caught Dustin Porrier in the fifth round.

1:13:29

He went after this ankle. He

1:13:32

went after this ankle you

1:13:35

that there. You looking for a knockout. You

1:13:39

looking to really really grapple, but you're not anticipating

1:13:41

or expecting them to grab your ankles. I understand his UFC,

1:13:43

understand that MMA, I understand that comes with the fight

1:13:45

game. I get all of that. But

1:13:48

mark Chev's not trying to box

1:13:50

you. He's trying to win.

1:13:54

And if that means submitting you, if.

1:13:56

That means.

1:13:58

Choking you out, so be it.

1:14:01

He ain't trying to stand up and fight you. That's the

1:14:04

worst possible matchup for

1:14:06

a guy like Connor McGregor, who doesn't want to grapple

1:14:09

at all.

1:14:11

Connor grapples for the soul express purpose.

1:14:15

Of getting out of you trying to submit

1:14:17

him so he can get back up on his feet

1:14:19

and knock you out. That's the only reason Connor

1:14:22

is trying to grapple you. Connor rolls in that

1:14:24

octagon looking to swing. He

1:14:26

throws kicks sometimes and I get hold of that,

1:14:29

but essentially he's looking to swing.

1:14:32

He wants to clip you and knock you out.

1:14:35

It's what made him popular, it's what got him in the ring

1:14:37

and got him over one hundred million dollars against Floyd Money. Mayweather

1:14:41

He is not trying to

1:14:43

grapple with anybody.

1:14:46

It's not trying to do it. I

1:14:48

don't give a damn what you saw in that new movie with Jay

1:14:50

Gallen Hall.

1:14:52

He's not trying to do it. He's

1:14:54

not.

1:14:56

He's trying to knock you out. He's trying to

1:14:58

clip you. That's

1:15:00

who Connor McGregor is. And

1:15:02

this guy Mark Chevy's not gonna capitulate.

1:15:05

He's not gonna fall in line just to

1:15:07

appease the crowd and to be entertaining

1:15:10

like Justin Gatgee did in his last fight

1:15:12

that he got knocked out in the last second against.

1:15:15

He's not trying to do that. He's

1:15:18

not trying to do that because Michael Shell don't

1:15:21

care about that. He's old school, he's

1:15:25

of a different discipline. He

1:15:27

ain't looking for the fan fear. He's

1:15:30

a product of Omega met Off. These

1:15:33

brothers are serious on another level about

1:15:35

this stuff. If

1:15:40

you are Connor McGregor, that's

1:15:43

not a fight you should take. That's not a fight

1:15:45

you should want at all. And if

1:15:47

you are the fans, that's the last

1:15:49

thing you should want to see because you don't want

1:15:51

to see Connor McGregor grappling you

1:15:54

want to see him in a fight like he's about to have with Michael

1:15:56

Chandler or assuming there's no mishaps or any

1:15:58

postponements or anything like that.

1:16:01

That's what you want to see.

1:16:02

It is the last thing you should want

1:16:04

to see Connor McGregor against any grappler,

1:16:08

any grappler, especially

1:16:10

when is elite. It's Markaschef. You

1:16:13

don't want to see that. Do not give

1:16:15

us that fight, UFC, Do not give us that fight there in the

1:16:17

white. Do not give us that fight Markaschef. Do not

1:16:20

give us that fight down, Connor McGregor.

1:16:21

Don't do it.

1:16:22

No, no, no, no no.

1:16:25

That is not a fight we want to see. Because

1:16:29

two seconds in Markachev is gonna

1:16:31

try to get Condor McGregor to the ground and

1:16:34

he's either gonna submit him or Connor

1:16:36

McGregor is gonna ward him off by sitting

1:16:38

on his ass and holding on and

1:16:41

trying to figure out how to get away,

1:16:43

how to get up off the campus and

1:16:46

get back to being on his feet and swinging

1:16:48

blows.

1:16:50

That's not what we want to see.

1:16:52

Don't give it to us, please, pretty

1:16:54

please, do not give it to us. Now,

1:16:56

let me move on to this other subject because it's important

1:17:01

and that's involved in the sport of boxing and

1:17:03

former heavyweight champion of the world Deontay Wilder,

1:17:07

who got KO this week. Yes,

1:17:10

there was another fight Saturday night. It

1:17:13

also ended with the fifth round KO and

1:17:16

that unfortunately happened to Wilder.

1:17:18

In Rio, Saudi Arabia, Wilder

1:17:22

took on heavyweight I don't even know how to pronounce

1:17:24

his name, Zielee Zang. That's

1:17:26

how it looks out of it that I think is Zelee lent Zang. His

1:17:29

record is twenty seven too and one with twenty two knockouts.

1:17:32

By the way, Zango outweighed Wilder boy more than

1:17:34

sixty eight pounds, scored the biggest

1:17:36

win of his career and might have effectively

1:17:38

ended the former heavyweight champions

1:17:41

career. China Zang, who's forty

1:17:43

one years of age, connected with a perfectly timed

1:17:45

counter right hook that spun Wilder

1:17:47

in a daze. He then followed

1:17:49

with another right that sent Wilder to the

1:17:51

canvas. Wilder somehow got to his feet

1:17:54

before the count of ten, but his legs were n't steady,

1:17:56

and the referee wisely waved off

1:17:58

the fight at one Poin fifty one of round

1:18:00

five.

1:18:03

It's time for Deontay Wilder to retire. It's

1:18:06

over.

1:18:09

The brothers got about eight kids. Deontay

1:18:13

Wilder is a good man with

1:18:16

a nuclear right hand. He

1:18:19

had to cut the right hand that puts most people

1:18:21

to sleep. But

1:18:26

it's two things that

1:18:29

I'm gonna hold against Deontay

1:18:31

Wilder. One

1:18:34

is that he can't box. He's

1:18:36

a puncher. He's

1:18:39

six seven, He's standing straight up

1:18:41

this very little to no head movement

1:18:43

whatsoever.

1:18:44

He does not evade.

1:18:46

Punches, and

1:18:48

he relies completely on his

1:18:50

right hand. He barely throws a jab. This

1:18:52

particular fight, he tried to throw the jab, but

1:18:56

he barely has thrown jabs throughout his entire

1:18:58

career. Relied

1:19:01

on the straight right or

1:19:03

the check left hook. That's

1:19:06

what Deontay Wilder has done. He's

1:19:09

not a good boxer. He's an

1:19:11

elite puncher. And

1:19:14

that's not a shame. That's no shame. George

1:19:16

Foreman wasn't an elite boxer. Ronald

1:19:19

Lyle wasn't an elite boxer. Ernie

1:19:22

Shavers wasn't an elite boxer.

1:19:25

Not when you compare him to Alley or

1:19:27

Larry Holmes or a Vander

1:19:30

Holyfield Lennox

1:19:33

Lewis was a good boxer, not a great boxer.

1:19:35

Mike Tyson and his Hey they was a great boxer

1:19:37

and puncher.

1:19:38

We get that. Mike Tyson Iron Mike

1:19:40

was on another level. We get that.

1:19:43

But for the most part, the power punchers. Remember

1:19:45

the Mike Weavers of the world back in the day,

1:19:48

Mike Weavers, Ernie Shavers, Ronald

1:19:50

Lyle, ron Lyle, George

1:19:52

Foreman, Joe Fraser, Ken

1:19:55

Norton. They weren't

1:19:57

great boxers. They

1:20:00

were great punchers.

1:20:03

But you give credit where credit is due.

1:20:06

And I don't want Deontay Wilder or his

1:20:08

fans or even critics to take this

1:20:10

the wrong way. I'm not insulting

1:20:12

him. I love Deontay Wilder, but

1:20:15

he was never and nor will ever

1:20:17

be known as a great boxer. That wasn't

1:20:19

his thing. He couldn't avoid

1:20:21

punches. He's

1:20:24

a puncher and he warded

1:20:27

you off with his nuclear right hand that

1:20:29

can put anybody to sleep. But

1:20:32

he was never an elite boxer. So

1:20:36

that's the point number one that I want to hold against him.

1:20:38

Here's point number two.

1:20:42

Stupidity.

1:20:45

Now we can blame it on pride, we can

1:20:47

blame it on arrogance and ego. As

1:20:49

far as this particular fight go, we could

1:20:51

blame it on looking for the money

1:20:53

fight or whatever. Deontay

1:20:58

Wilder blew it. He

1:21:02

got into the ring Saturday night with a dude

1:21:05

sixty eight pounds heavier than them, Ladies

1:21:07

and gentlemen. It was breaking news

1:21:10

when Ryan Garcia committed to coming

1:21:12

in to the

1:21:15

weigh in three pounds

1:21:17

heavier than Devin Haty. Three

1:21:20

pounds we saw

1:21:24

in the pre fight commentary,

1:21:27

you understand with Sean

1:21:29

Porter and Clarissa Shield,

1:21:31

who did an excellent job.

1:21:33

Both of them did an excellent job.

1:21:34

We talked about We heard them talking about

1:21:37

three pounds make a difference.

1:21:38

This guy, Deontay.

1:21:39

Wilder is coming into the fight sixty

1:21:42

eight pounds lighter than Zang. I

1:21:44

don't give a damn that he's forty one. He's

1:21:47

sixty eight pounds heavier.

1:21:49

What are you doing?

1:21:52

And by the way, his career was ruined

1:21:54

when he went into a fight in the trilogy

1:21:57

against Tyson Fury thirty

1:22:00

eight pounds lighter because

1:22:04

Tyson Fury was so heavier than them. Remember

1:22:06

I told y'all that story with the press conference,

1:22:08

the initial press conference when Tyson Fury

1:22:10

flew across the ocean and promote the fight, and

1:22:13

he fought Deontay Wallda.

1:22:14

Remember that, and he said

1:22:17

in a press conference.

1:22:18

When Deontay Wada was wearing his headphones

1:22:21

and didn't want to answer any questions from the media,

1:22:23

and he.

1:22:23

Said about Deontay Wader.

1:22:24

Quote, he said, I

1:22:27

can say this to y'all because he's an idiot.

1:22:29

He's not going to do anything about it.

1:22:30

And he went on to say, I'm gonna come

1:22:32

in abrout thirty five to forty pounds heavier.

1:22:36

He said, he can't box, so he's gonna

1:22:38

be right there for me to hit. But even

1:22:40

when I miss, I'm

1:22:42

just going to lean on him.

1:22:45

He said.

1:22:45

As a result, I'm gonna take away his legs.

1:22:48

And when I take away his legs,

1:22:52

by the fourth or fifth round, he's gonna be done

1:22:57

and he's gonna be target practice for me.

1:23:00

He said.

1:23:00

And you're wondering why I'm telling you this, he said,

1:23:03

because he's an idiot. He's too stupid

1:23:05

to do anything about it. That's what he said.

1:23:08

Now, maybe I'm paraphrasing a word here or there,

1:23:10

but I'm telling you that was the crux of what Tyson

1:23:13

Fury said, and lo and

1:23:15

behold he went in the ring, and that's exactly what happened.

1:23:18

Now, in fairness to Deontay

1:23:20

Walda, Deontay Wada looked done in

1:23:22

the third round of that fight, turned around

1:23:25

and clipped Tyson Fury dropped

1:23:27

him in the fourth, not once but twice,

1:23:30

but still ended up getting beat up every

1:23:32

round but that one before

1:23:34

getting knocked out in the eleventh. So

1:23:38

now here you go, and you fast forward,

1:23:41

and you end up losing

1:23:43

four of your last five fights, getting

1:23:46

knocked out in three of your last four fights,

1:23:48

and you going into the ring knowing

1:23:51

what that zapped out of you, and

1:23:53

you're gonna go on in the ring.

1:23:54

With somebody sixty eight pounds heavi it in you. What's

1:23:56

wrong with you?

1:24:00

Come on, y'all. That's just

1:24:02

not smart. That's

1:24:04

just not smart. And

1:24:07

that's what I wanted to say about Deontay

1:24:09

Wilder. You did damage to yourself by going

1:24:12

into the ring with dudes that

1:24:14

were so much heavier than

1:24:16

you, and they drained

1:24:18

everything out of you. And now you don't have it

1:24:20

anymore. There's no way you'll beat Tyson

1:24:22

Fury. There's no way you'll beat you sick.

1:24:25

There's no way you'll beat Anthony Joshua.

1:24:29

It's over. I'm sorry,

1:24:31

Deontay Wilder. I love you, but

1:24:34

it's over.

1:24:35

Now.

1:24:35

Before we get on out of here for today, I gotta get to y'all

1:24:37

tweets because it's so important for y'all. And I see the streets.

1:24:39

I gotta put my glasses on because the damn print is so

1:24:41

small, but I'm gonna do it anyway.

1:24:43

Okay, let's go to some of.

1:24:44

The tweets right here at I

1:24:47

will route you tweets

1:24:50

me stephen A.

1:24:51

Why do you act like your opinion isn't ever

1:24:53

wrong?

1:24:58

That would seem to be the case, like

1:25:00

with somebody like your ignorant ass.

1:25:04

Did you see me in the news last week apologizing?

1:25:08

Did you hear what I said about Kyrie Irving? Did you

1:25:10

say what I said about Kenny Smith? Didn't

1:25:13

you hear what I've said in the past,

1:25:15

whether it's be about a Kwame Brown, a Glenn

1:25:17

big Dog Robinson or Draymond

1:25:20

Green or anybody else?

1:25:22

What are you talking about? You

1:25:25

see, you can't just talk at your ass.

1:25:28

You actually have to know what you're talking about that

1:25:30

is factually incorrect. What you just tweeted

1:25:33

me on X do

1:25:36

your homework google me. It's

1:25:38

not hard to find. I know I'm

1:25:40

not always right, but I can understand why

1:25:43

you think that way, because that's a roundabout

1:25:45

way of saying I am usually right,

1:25:48

and considering the fact that I give about fifteen

1:25:50

takes a day, seventy five takes a week, about

1:25:52

thirty three hundred a year on average

1:25:55

minimum, that I've done it over fifty

1:25:57

thousand times over the last decade,

1:26:00

and it's rare that I'm wrong. I can

1:26:02

understand why you would say such a thing. But

1:26:05

that's just you feeling like

1:26:07

I'm almost never wrong. That's not me

1:26:09

saying it. There's a difference.

1:26:12

Wake up, wake up. Next

1:26:15

tweet at l Maxe

1:26:18

Underscore Swag. Right, stephen A. Who's

1:26:20

making your starting five out of the team

1:26:22

Fortress two characters? Okay, that's

1:26:25

pyro Engineer, spy, heavy

1:26:28

uh, sniper, Soldier,

1:26:30

Scout, Demoman,

1:26:33

demo Man, demo man.

1:26:35

And medic. Hmm. Interesting.

1:26:38

Okay, First of things, first, we're gonna go with heavy Man

1:26:40

because it need a big man in the middle, So we're gonna go with

1:26:42

that.

1:26:42

Right.

1:26:42

It's my starting five, right, so we're gonna go with heavy

1:26:44

man, We're gonna go with heavier, right. We're

1:26:47

definitely gonna go with sniper because we're gonna assume that

1:26:49

somebody's sniper is a long range marksman.

1:26:52

Right, so I need a Steph Curry. Right, So we definitely

1:26:54

gonna go with heavy, and we're gonna go with sniper.

1:26:55

Right.

1:26:56

We want a soldier because we want a warrior.

1:26:59

We want somebody that's a rough rider.

1:27:02

We want somebody that could go out there and

1:27:04

handle business. Okay, it

1:27:07

ain't scared of anything. You

1:27:09

want somebody that want you want to be in a foxhole with

1:27:12

somebody named soldier.

1:27:13

That applies. So we got heavy, we got

1:27:15

sniper, we got soldier. All

1:27:18

right. Now here's where it

1:27:20

gets interested.

1:27:20

You got Pyro, you got scout, you

1:27:23

got demo man, you got spy.

1:27:26

I get that. But you know the last two i'm gonna go

1:27:29

with. I'm gonna go with medic and

1:27:31

I'm gonna go with engineer. Here's

1:27:33

why I'm gonna do that. If you're an engineer,

1:27:36

right, you're technically

1:27:38

efficient, one would argue,

1:27:41

So I'm gonna go with that. And then when

1:27:43

we talk about medic, well, that means

1:27:45

you have the ability to be precise and to dissect

1:27:48

stuff like a surgeon. I

1:27:50

need that too, So I got medic

1:27:52

I got engineer. All right,

1:27:55

I got heavy, I got sniper, and

1:27:57

I got soldier. I think that's

1:27:59

a pretty good start in five. By

1:28:01

the way, some woman named Miranda just texts

1:28:04

me. She said, at Miranda

1:28:07

rhinart ri, I N

1:28:10

E R T right, stephen A, what do you

1:28:12

think about the male loneliness epidemic?

1:28:15

I need your take on the state of male

1:28:17

friendship culture.

1:28:21

Hm. You

1:28:23

know what I would say, Miranda.

1:28:26

It's not a lack of friends, because

1:28:29

fellas usually have friends.

1:28:32

It's that pre we're preoccupied.

1:28:35

Now when you have a family. Hell,

1:28:38

if you don't have a family, but you got a woman. The

1:28:42

phraseology whether it's your woman is your girlfriend

1:28:44

and your lead whatever, happy wife, happy

1:28:46

life. See, the priority is to please

1:28:48

her because you want to be pleased by her. Usually

1:28:51

there's nothing that pleases you more than a woman. So

1:28:54

you gotta get that out the way. How

1:28:56

do you get that out the way?

1:28:57

Okay? What happens is this? All

1:29:00

right?

1:29:01

It's one of those situations where you

1:29:04

got that going on, but you're

1:29:06

also preoccupied as a man handling

1:29:09

business and taking care of responsibilities. And

1:29:12

because we're not the emotional

1:29:14

creatures, that is not a negative.

1:29:16

That is a positive towards women. Because we're

1:29:18

not the emotional creatures that you are. What

1:29:21

happens is is that we always feel

1:29:23

we can see the fellas some other time. We always

1:29:25

feel we got some other time to hang with the fellas. We're

1:29:27

about handling business, and

1:29:30

usually when we want to handle business, it's because

1:29:33

we want our lady the benefits

1:29:35

from it.

1:29:37

That's what it is.

1:29:38

And a combination of those two things

1:29:41

have you push your friends to the wayside because

1:29:43

you're assuming they'll always be there. Some

1:29:45

of my friends I don't see more than once a year, but

1:29:48

I know they're my boys. I don't have to

1:29:50

hang out with them. This ain't Sex in the City, you

1:29:53

ain't. This ain't a Megan Good

1:29:56

show with the Harlem Girls and stuff like that. Y'all

1:29:58

fratnizing with one another.

1:30:00

You understand.

1:30:01

This ain't one of them movies or

1:30:03

one of them shows like that. This

1:30:05

ain't the you know, the Golden Girls

1:30:07

for the senior citizens. This ain't the

1:30:09

younger Sisters and stuff like that.

1:30:12

This ain't living single back in the day

1:30:14

or nothing like that the fellas. Look,

1:30:17

man, we catch you when we catch you.

1:30:18

No.

1:30:18

I love you, know my boy, but shit, I'm busy.

1:30:20

I got stuff to do. I catch you later. Those

1:30:23

are fellas, And that's why

1:30:26

you might think there's an issue with

1:30:28

the friendship and how there's a male friendship

1:30:31

epidemic of loneliness or whatever.

1:30:34

But if you're a dude and

1:30:36

you got a honey in your life and

1:30:39

you got boys that you love, trust

1:30:42

me.

1:30:43

You ain't lonely.

1:30:44

Just trust me on that. That's not a concern

1:30:47

that you have. So I don't believe there's

1:30:49

some loneliness epidemic. You'll have to show

1:30:51

me the data on that in order

1:30:53

for me to believe you, because I ain't feeling that last

1:30:56

tweet at Harry Underscore

1:30:59

Wiltshire will s h Ei

1:31:01

rights better duo Burt and Ernie

1:31:03

or Kyrie and Luca. You know what I would have

1:31:05

said, Burt and Ernie. But after

1:31:07

watching Kyrie and Luca over the last month

1:31:11

and fantasizing about them potentially winning an

1:31:13

NBA championship in the next two

1:31:15

weeks, I'm gonna go with Kyrie

1:31:18

and Luca. If

1:31:20

ever, there was a time not to go against

1:31:22

those two in.

1:31:23

Favor of Bert and Ernie.

1:31:28

It would be Now. That's

1:31:30

it for the day's edition of The Steven A. Smith Show.

1:31:32

Hope y'all enjoyed it.

1:31:33

I'll be back in a couple of days, thanks again to

1:31:35

the one and only Jason Kidd, head coach for the

1:31:37

Dallas Mavericks, coming on the show. Looking forward

1:31:40

to watching him and his team performing against

1:31:42

the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals. It's

1:31:44

gonna be epic, y'all. It's gonna be epic,

1:31:46

and I can't wait.

1:31:47

Stick around. There's a lot

1:31:49

to see with the Steven A.

1:31:50

Smith Show right here over the digital airways of YouTube

1:31:53

and over the audio stratus field

1:31:55

with iHeartRadio. Make sure you click

1:31:57

in, tune in, and get a feel for what we're

1:31:59

doing.

1:32:00

We're up to.

1:32:00

We'll be back to you in a couple of days on the

1:32:02

eve of Game one of the NBA Finals

1:32:05

Thursday night. That means we'll be at you Wednesday.

1:32:07

Until then, I'm out, y'all. Signing off

1:32:10

to stephen A saying goodbye, Peace

1:32:12

of love,