"A less-interesting Don King with worse hair" - NBA fans grill Stephen A. Smith for blasting Knicks on drafting Kristaps Porzingis in resurfaced video
Kristaps Porzingis came off the bench in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Friday to spark the Boston Celtics to a 107-89 drubbing of the Dallas Mavericks. The Latvian, who hadn’t played in 38 days, turned the game once he came in midway through the first quarter. It was his play on both ends of the floor that allowed Boston to take a 37-20 lead that it never surrendered.
Porzingis’ performance had some NBA insiders calling it the best return from injury in the playoffs display. Boston’s interior defense, gashed repeatedly by the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Indiana Pacers, was suddenly airtight with the Latvian in the middle. Besides his impressive rim protection, the lanky center also rained 27-footers on his former team.
Kristaps Porzingis' eye-opening debut also prompted the resurfacing of Stephen A. Smith’s rant when the New York Knicks drafted him in 2015. The ESPN analyst blasted Phil Jackson, the then-Knicks president of basketball operations, for getting the previously unknown European over US-based players.
Smith said the legendary coach “hoodwinked, bamboozled, led astray, run amuck and flat-out deceived” Knicks fans. The clip, which has gone viral again, was promptly greeted with reactions on X, formerly Twitter:
“a less-interesting don king with worse hair. always has been.”
One fan spelled out the reason why this take didn’t age well:
“All the guys he named being out of the league while this guy plays for a championship this year is as Stephen A Smith as it gets”
Another fan couldn’t hold back ripping the outspoken analyst:
“If Loud+Wrong were a person…”
@JustVent6 casually trolled him and his take:
“Safe to say he was wrong, like always”
According to Smith, Phil Jackson made a big mistake when he drafted Kristaps Porzingis No. 4 in 2015. He emphatically named Willie Cauley-Stein, Justise Winslow and Stanley Roberts as the better options. The “First Take” host couldn’t even get the last name right. He likely meant Stanley Johnson from Arizona who the Detroit Pistons picked No. 8.
None of the players Stephen A. Smith mentioned are even in the NBA anymore. Johnson last suited up for the San Antonio Spurs last season. Cauley-Stein hasn’t been in the league in two years, while Winslow, a Rookie of the Year candidate, wasn’t signed by any team this season.
Stephen A. Smith got his Kristaps Porzingis evaluation completely wrong
Stephen A. Smith conceded that Kristaps Porzingis “is talented,” but he claimed that it would take “three to five years” before the Latvian would be “big-time.” He said the New York Knicks weren’t looking to develop a “project,” and Phil Jackson should have not passed up on one of four “NBA-ready dudes.”
As it turned out, only the No. 1 pick, Karl-Anthony Towns, was better than Porzingis during the 2015-16 season. Smith was proven wrong right off the bat. Out of the players the analyst mentioned, only Justise Winslow was considered for the Rookie of the Year award, placing sixth in the voting.
Stephen A. Smith’s rant nearly a decade ago looks even worse with the way Kristaps Porzingis’ career has turned out. The center is in the NBA Finals and was the key figure in the Boston Celtics’ Game 1 win over the Dallas Mavericks. He isn’t likely done yet and fans will only remind the veteran sports show host of his error.