"Stay off the weed"- Jay Williams ridicules Stephen A. Smith for bringing Steph Curry into the Mount Rushmore conversation over LeBron James
Former No. 2 pick-turned-ESPN analyst Jay Williams had some harsh criticism for ESPN co-analyst Stephen A. Smith following his controversial hot take.
On a recent episode of “First Take,” Smith brought up the famous NBA Mount Rushmore discussion. He then suggested that Golden State Warriors superstar point guard Steph Curry could knock LA Lakers star forward LeBron James off the NBA’s metaphorical Mount Rushmore. Smith said Curry could do so if he defeated James in the Western Conference semifinals and went on to win his fifth title.
Williams wasn’t having it though. He first pointed out that Mount Rushmore is an outdated sports metaphor:
“Can we first just start with the Mount Rushmore talk?” Williams asked.
“They’re not even the four best presidents this country has ever had. Everyone in this room was not even able to vote. I just want to say that off the top. That’s our metric for success? That’s our king? I’ll leave that conversation for another time.”
Williams then shifted the conversation to Smith’s hot take, calling him out for click-baiting his audience:
“Now to you. I’ve been waiting to say this live to you for so long. Stay off the weed Stephen A.!” Williams said.
“You know how I know you? You know how I know when you give clickbait? You get people taking. You didn’t even make the claim that he is going to be in the top four of Mount Rushmore. You just said, ‘The discussion. The discussion.’
“Kudos to you, it elevates everybody to talk about it. You didn’t even make a stand by saying if he’s going to win his fifth NBA championship.”
Williams later said that Curry has a chance to finish his career in the top five of all time. However, Williams added that James is already a top-two player of all time, so Curry has no chance to bump him out of the top four:
“He’s not, he’s going to be on the list,” Williams said.
“Let me just tell you why. And I love Steph. I say Steph has been a revolutionary player in the history of basketball. I agree with Windy, I think he’s top 10. I think when it’s all said and done, he will inevitably be in the top five. But LeBron James is one of the two greatest players we’ve ever seen in the history of the game.”
Jay Williams says two-way greats should take precedence in GOAT rankings
Later on in his debate with Stephen A. Smith, Jay Williams pointed out that Smith usually mentions two-way greats in his greatest of all-time discussions. Williams added that two-way superstars like Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan and LeBron James should take precedence over offense-first players in GOAT rankings:
“And when I saw you give your list yesterday with Mad Dog and J.J. (Redick), you made mention of names like Bill Russell, guys that play both sides of the ball. Bill Russell is a one-time (member of the All-Defensive First Team), but that award actually didn’t start until 1968. His career ended in 1969.
“You also gave Michael Jordan, nine-time First Team All-Defense. You gave Kareem (Abdul-Jabbar), five-time First Team All-Defense. So, what you’re telling me is you’re setting a standard for people that not only are prolific offensively but also prolific defensively."
He continued:
“So when I look at Steph, generational-type player. But does he play on both sides of the ball the way LeBron James does? Who was five-time First Team All-Defense. I just find a lot of issues with your argument.”
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