Get real, Kyrie! Klay Thompson future, Bucks look BAD, Clippers champions? Kobe’s legacy, more

Get real, Kyrie! Klay Thompson future, Bucks look BAD, Clippers champions? Kobe’s legacy, more

Lot of action happening this week right here in Las Vegas at Super Bowl week we got a Super Bowl game going on between the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs this weekend we’ve got a statue being erected for the late great Kobe Bean Bryant and of course Kyrie

Irving is back in the news go figure the Stephen A Smith show coming at you right now what’s up everybody Welcome to the latest edition of the Stephen A Smith show coming at you as I love to do at the very least three days a week over

The digital Airways of YouTube um I am here with you on this Wednesday February 7th um let me take a moment right now to put this big fat smile on my face on my face because my beautiful young daughter Nyla today is her birthday Daddy loves

You baby happy birthday see you soon um there’s a lot of stuff to get into without question let me take a moment first to say um thank you to all of my subscribers uh in 10 and a half months it has now escalated above 543,000 subscribers rapidly approaching 550,000

Subscribers and Beyond uh by the time we we’re on the here on the a of or the Airways of YouTube we’ll have uh I expect to be about 600,000 subscribers so I’m loving it I’m feeling it that’s what I’m speaking into existence that’s what I believe is going to happen

Because of the pace at which we’re picking up subscribers by average around 2,000 a day or so so I’m really really happy about that appreciate the love and support as always keep it coming just continue to watch the show go to the Stephen A Smith show on YouTube click

The bell and YouTube will be a new subscriber and while you’re out doing that make sure you grab a copy of my New York Times bestselling book straight shooter a menoir of Second Chances and first takes which is now in paperback so just go to straight shooter book.com and

There you’ll have it there’s a lot of stuff to get into no doubt about that um in sports and Beyond I need to start off with Kyrie Irving now Kyrie Irving is a super star Talent a champion a spectacular basketball player who plays for the Dallas Mavericks I’m not telling the basketball

World anything they don’t know the rest of the world might want to to find out won a championship even though he got drafted number one overall years ago and he was in Cleveland for years without LeBron James he started in Cleveland and then ultimately departed and went uh to the Boston

Celtics this is after he won a championship in Cleveland um with LeBron James ultimately ended up going to the Boston Celtics departing from there ultimately going to the Brooklyn Nets and convincing Kevin Durant to join him in Brooklyn after three years departed from there and now he is in Dallas

Texas he returned to Brooklyn last night for the first time since he was traded away from the Brooklyn Nets to join the Dallas Mavericks and he dropped about 36 points hit 62% of his shots six attempt from three-point range five assist no free throw attempts didn’t need any he put on

An absolute show because that’s how spectacular he is and in the aftermath of that he spoke to the media uh being interviewed at the barlay center in Brooklyn listen here to what he had to say please I don’t know if anything need to be Salvage I just think it was time

To get my own peace of mind and go somewhere um where I was able to to thrive um and being in a situation where I didn’t have to worry about um you know kind of behind the back talk or the media talk or not knowing how to handle um you know real life

Circumstances uh that uh it has nothing to do with the game of basketball has everything to do with how you handle someone as a person and um while I was here I’ve learned a lot of lessons I’ve made my peace again like I said and I just want to move forward you know

Things could have changed and you look back at the past and you have 2020 Vision this could have gone right if this would have happened if I didn’t get injured versus the Bucks do I get do I still ask for trade if Katie’s foot wasn’t on the three-point line are we

Talking about a different Legacy here if James doesn’t ask for a trade all the would have could have should have would is hopefully after this night we could just put that to rest and just move forward and I could look forward to the rest of my career and just handling in

Dallas and um going after my second Championship see this is the reason why I felt the need to talk about this subject because to me it’s very very simple some folks just don’t get it you know and it’s not about him doing something wrong it certainly isn’t about him doing something criminal is

Certainly about not him necessarily to be uh uh to put himself in a position to be criticized but I do think it’s important if we’re speaking for basketball fans everywhere to really really engage in this subject just for a couple of minutes here again he dropped

36 last night and what does he say I made my peace but never mentioning all of the drama created by Him and the Miss Championship opportunities because that’s what matters see I’m here trying to be cool because Kyrie is not a bad person and I remember when so many people

Thought that I had some personal acts to grind with this brother who did get on my nerve on a personal level but I’m a grown ass man and I can get over that and to give props to Kyrie Irvin who again is a decent brother when he

Ultimately confronted me after a year of us button heads via tweets or something on social media or something that I said on my day job on first take on ESPN every weekday morning from 10:00 a.m. to 2 um 10: a. to 1200 noon rather Kyrie Irving rolled up on

Me at the crypto.com arena during the playoffs last year and he said yo if we really being serious about this this ain’t about me and you anymore this is about me and my dad because his dad got involved and I thought was out of pocket

With what he had said to me so we were bickering and Kyrie felt like a victim ladies and gentlemen Kyrie was right if I’m being a grown ass man about all of this he was right we got to call a spade of spade we’re grown-ups his

Father and I so you know what we did thereafter we met up we hashed out our differences like grown men with a conversation we shook hands and his father and I have been fine ever since because he is a good man a man that just loves his son dearly and was protect

Protecting his son and speaking up for his son because he knows his son is not going to engage and speaking up for himself but so much so dric Irving is a fantastic person and I’m so glad that we met up and made amends because he wasn’t the only one that apologized I apologized

Because we were both wrong in our own ways and Kyrie deserves all the credit because I don’t know if that would have happened if Kyrie didn’t bring it to my attention and crystallize it for me the way that he did props to Kyrie so let me return the favor Kyrie and crystallize

Something for you when you say you just you’ve made your peace and you just want to be past all the drama please understand what net fans and basketball fans everywhere were hoping for you and KD were a an elite Tandem and when James Harden arrived here we see what he’s

Doing in with the Clippers we were hoping he would be doing that for you and what transpired in instead in three and a half Seasons from 2019 2020 to the 2022 2023 season before Kyrie Irving was traded last February Kyrie Irving missed 135 of 278 possible games as a Brooklyn

Nets ladies and gentlemen that’s 48% of the games that’s 48% of the games he missed do you know that Kyrie Irving James Harden and Kevin Durant played a grand total of 16 games together 16 you know how bad that is I appreciate the shades I appreciate

The fly ass black blazer he was wearing yesterday he looked pretty damn cool and his game was just as his game looked better but you do find yourself looking at him and wishing damn that could have happened in Brooklyn I told y’all Y should have went to the Knicks because y’all would have

Own the city forever because if you’d have delivered a championship to New York City for the first time since Walt Clyde Frasier had been a Nick you’d have owned it you’d have been billionaires because James Dolan would have seen to it now he may not know much about running the Knicks

Franchise but he knows a lot about making money and if you came out here to Vegas and you saw the sphere which is owned by him you know what the hell I’m talking about it’s off the chain but I digress I look at Kyrie Irving he played in three playoff series

With the Nets in three years and lost two of them that means he only got out of the first round once I have openly conceded that if he hadn’t twisted his ankle against Milwaukee right before Kevin Durant dropped 49 in a game five and 48 in a game seven I contend the

Brooklyn Nets with a one Net series and they probably would have went to the NBA fin no they definitely would have went to the NBA finals because they would have beat Atlanta and then after after that I believe they would have beaten Chris Paul and Devin Booker and the

Phoenix Suns and they’ have won the championship but injuries happened but there was also covid vaccination mandate and if you recall Kyrie Irving had to miss some games because of that because he refused to take the vaccine and all of this other stuff and we all know that he has every

Right to be an antiva so we got all of that my issue with him back then was you missed enough work there’s always an excuse to miss games we want to see you on the court playing that’s all here was Kyrie Iran last night when

A fan was heckling him as to why he didn’t play that way in when he was in Brooklyn the way he play last night even though he did on many occasions but listen to the whole and watch the whole interaction right now it’s really quick check this out right here Kyrie why you

Don’t play like this you the why May oh come on so he said okay ask mayor Adams that’s relatively flippant I understand that the fan probably deserved it I don’t think he deserves any kind of backlash for that or anything like that I’m not going to bring up the whole

Anti-semitic beliefs that people tried to attach to him just because he posted something on Twitter and what kind of suspension that led to or anything like that you know or him and the net supposedly each donated 500,00 towards causes and organizations that work to eradicate hate and intolerance

And El communities all of this other I’m not doing all of that I’m not doing all of that today I’m simply saying the one night where it would have been nice to see a heightened level of sensitivity from Kyrie Irvin as it pertained to all the things that went

Wrong in Brooklyn was the one night he returned to Brooklyn you don’t owe that to Dallas you don’t owe that to Nicks fans in New York City you don’t owe that to Philadelphia or Boston you don’t owe it to LA or Chicago or anything like that but you owed it to

Them because 48% of the time you weren’t there and Championship aspirations you didn’t even come close to succeeding strictly because of those missed games if Kyrie Irving plays in 40 of those 48% of the missed games the Nets probably win a championship they certainly get to a Conference Finals if

Not an NBA finals but Kyrie being gone Kevin Durant following after James Harden departed and Ben Simmons departed look y’all or Ben Simmons arrived look y’all it’s all about that humility from time to time it really is and unfortunately that’s not what I saw from Kyrie

Earth and that’s all I want to to say the one spot the one place where it would have been nice for him I’m not sitting there trying to hate on him I really am not I want to see Kyrie win I want to see him play we all get treated

To something special when we watch this brother on the basketball court but it would have been nice to see him go like damn I had a lot to learn I learned a lot from it and I’m really sorry at what I didn’t do for us when

For y’all when I was here it would have been nice the only person that doesn’t owe anybody in apology in Brooklyn is Kevin Durant because that brother brought it that’s it let me move on to the next subject because the next subject involves somebody who does show humility he got a

Competitive fire in his belly um he is a four-time champion he’s one of the greatest Shooters we have ever seen in the history of basketball but he looks like a shell of himself now and that is Mr Klay Thompson for the Golden State Warriors ladies and gentlemen Klay Thompson was benched the

Other night in the fourth quarter Klay Thompson has been benched in the fourth quarter five times in his career one time when he was coming off of his injury a couple of years back four times this season he’s in a contract year to say he’s Melancholy if not sad

Could be an understatement because he’s clearly not happy with his contract status because the Golden State Warriors have no intentions of paying him an exorbitant amount of dollars to retain his Services Beyond this season where he’s making $43 Million by the way Klay Thompson has played in 45 of a possible

47 games this year the Golden State Warriors are three games under 500 and the 11th seed in the Western Conference at at 22 and 25 that means if the playin tournament was the was to begin today the Warriors wouldn’t even be in it I’m not going to visit this subject

Only by saying this he’s averaging 17 points a game and 41.5% shooting from the field that is a career low that’s pretty damn bad but 25 teams in the league at the least could use numbers like that I just want it as an aside to let

Clay know it’s not been a great year for you you’re not going to get the money that you want but you’re still a hell of a player you’re a fourtown champion and you still got a good enough game to make a contribution to a title Contender any

Day of the week keep your head up my brother keep your head up let me move on real quickly to Doc Rivers one and four as a head coach for the Milwaukee Bucks I believe now in case y’all were wondering I’m G to tell you you shouldn’t be looking at Doc Rivers what

You should be looking at are the Milwaukee Bucks players because of how much they celebrated when their rookie head coach Adrien Griffin got fired a few weeks ago check this video out of the Milwaukee Buck after Adrien Griffin got fired you see that are you looking at that right

There so you celebrate celebrate celebrate and Doc Rivers comes on board it’s a one and four record you still dancing now you still dancing I don’t see anybody dancing I don’t see Yannis s dancing I don’t see my brother my dog Damen Lil dancing I damn sure don’t see Bobby Porters

Dancing where y’all at life ain’t the same without Mike buen ho of the coach of Drew holiday the point guard is it three head coaches in one year Yiannis you still dancing bro are you still dancing we asked we have to ask question about jannis s Dumbo because you’re the one that chose

Adrien Griffin as your coach you wanted them and everybody’s entitled to make mistakes and we understand that we get that part and we’re not going to crucify him for that but we have to be honest about what we’re talking about here the Milwaukee Bucks stink right now and the

New York knck got a chance to get the number two seed in the East along with the Cleveland Cavaliers who are being led by Donovan Mitchell who have won 14 of their last 15 games that’s why I got Donovan Mitchell has a starter in the NBA Allstar festivities and I ain’t

Apologizing for that to nobody no damn body Milwaukee Bucks do I believe that Doc Rivers will get it together well here’s the reality he better because if he doesn’t if Doc Rivers does not get it together I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again this will be the last head

Coaching job he gets in his NBA career he’s already been a head coach for 24 years this will be it Orlando and Boston and the Clippers and the Philadelphia 76ers and NADA Milwaukee Bucks one title in that period of time two trips to the NBA finals Doc

Rivers if he does not win this year I love him I believe in him but if he doesn’t win this year and I’m not talking about a championship you can’t look like this I don’t think it’s the pressure on him to win the championship this year when you’re taking over the team midseason

But you can’t look the way they looking right now milwauke looks like straight trash and Janis s DMO is your star with Damen Lillet you ain’t supposed to be losing you know a one and4 record over the five game stretch not with them two brothers what’s going on what’s going on

I’mma tell you this real quick ladies and gentlemen we can’t say that about the Los Angeles Clippers I’m just looking at some of these numbers the Los Angeles Clippers might win the title I’m G to say this again the fear weather stepchild in La the folks that still rely on Billy

Crystal you you you’re very good you you are very good you as Robert dairo said to him and analyzed this that Billy Crystal they’re still relying on him one could make a legitimate argument that the two biggest fans is Billy Crystal and Bob Iger at Disney I’m here to tell you right now

The Los Angeles Clippers could win the NBA championship that’s right I said it now was stuck on Boston because I said Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown there’s nothing else to talk about but I can’t believe in a team that’s jacking up 45 threes a game I

Just can’t I know Missoula can coach but there’s levels to this and he may Oka in Houston is showing how considerably of an upgrade he is compared to Missoula somebody got to say it so I’m gonna say it and by the way as an aside I am still thoroughly pissed

Off that eay udoka went through what he went through he had a consensual Affair purportedly with some employee in Boston he was married and if you’re GNA make him suffer fine fire him or keep him but for the Boston Celtics to allow it to leak

Out in such a world in such a way that the entire world knew he was getting this groove on somebody got to say it that’s that’s really bad and I’m G say this other thing too I know plenty of people black and white in professional sports who was screwing around in the

Office and lost their job because of it and nobody knew why we didn’t know about bumping and grinding being the reason for your termination it was an H sh matter but you just going to put that out there about him that’s why I love Jason Tatum I love jayen Brown this is

Not about them but that’s why I can’t root for no damn Boston Celtics because that trifling ass stuff they pull and don’t tell me it was somebody else y’all let it leak out that’s your’ responsibility that was an HR matter but I digress there’s struggles are the

Clippers game and if you’re the reigning defending Champion Denver Nuggets I would strongly advise you to get your stuff together because the Clippers are coming now we understand that kawh Leonard has been playing games and we know that’s just a miracle or just a miracle okay because I contend to you he

Is still the worst Superstar any team could ever have because he spent 48% of his career missing games with the Clippers and the 52% of the games that he does play he’s absolutely spectacular because he’s a superstar but the 48% he does not play he does nothing to Market

Your sport or your team or the city it’s just ridiculous but he is a superstar basketball player he is the real deal and this brother is playing on an elite level but I’m just looking ladies and gentlemen and I want you to understand what the hell is going on with the Los

Angeles Clippers since December 1st they have the best record in basketball at 26 and5 they lead the NBA in offensive efficiency they lead the NBA and field goal percentage shooting at 51.1% they lead the NBA in three-point field goal percentage shooting at 41.8% they lead the NBA in free throw percentage shooting at

83.7% they’ve got six different players averaging double figures in scoring on the season and let me go a step further kawh Leonard is shooting 45.7% from three-point range which is third in the NBA Norman pow is shooting 45% which is seventh in the NBA some dude named AR

Armir coffee as in the coffee you drink I never heard of him I’m watching this brother he can play this brother can play he’s shooting 43.9% thanel TH or Theus however the hell you pronounce his name 42% James hard is at 41% Paul George at 42% they’ve got six players shooting above

40% from three oh my God oh my God these brothers the Los Angeles Clippers may win it all and right before they move to their new arena in Englewood we’ve been looking at the crypto.com arena which is a name that I hate wishing that it was called The Staple Center

Still but there I say lakeer Nation with their purple and gold if they don’t do something about it you might see fans trickling over to Inglewood California this is getting very interesting and Russell Westbrook is doing this thing too major props to him which I’ll get into

Later oh there’s a lot to talk about with the Los Angeles Clippers right now they’re mathematically ahead is the number one seed in the Western Conference which means the road to the finals goes through LA’s other team LA’s other team LeBron you sure you want to

Stay sure you don’t want to leave town bro you sure LeBron that you can stomach the Los Angeles Clippers being the team in town while the Lakers are the sideshow just a question my brother just a just a question before I go to break there’s a lot of people out there

Sports news and beyond that have aspirations to get in Media whether it’s in news or sports or whatever the case may be and we pay attention to a lot of things that’s going on and we’ve seen the digital Stratosphere really really elevating in the Mind’s Eye hell I got my own podcast

I could have had a radio show I didn’t want that I wanted a podcast I wanted a show why because I wanted to put it over the digital Airwaves of YouTube because they’ve got over two billion unique listeners and viewers every single day but I got to tell you this ladies and

Gentlemen because it’s very very important um pay attention to what’s going on there’s a joint venture forming to launch a streaming Sports service in the United States of America and it was announced yesterday announ um involving ESPN Fox and Warner Brothers Discovery they’ll bring together Sports linear networks and direct to consumer

Service services like ESPN plus offering to include the NFL NBA WNBA MLB NHL NASCAR College Sports UFC PGA Tour golf Grand Slam Tennis the FIFA World Cup cycling and even more than that and the service will be offered through a new Standalone app built from the ground up

For the passionate sports fan key highlights here ESPN Fox and Warner Brothers Discovery would form a new joint venture doing those things okay each entity would own onethird of the joint venture having equal board representation and license their Sports content to the joint venture on a non-ex

Exclusive basis the service will have a new brand with an independent management team according to the reports and subscribers would also have the ability to bundle the product including with Disney Plus Hulu and or Max here’s what I want to say to y’all because it’s very very important to bring this stuff

Up everybody has an opportunity to be a content provider now linear television is where the money is made but streaming has changed that and is drastically changing that as we move forward and really really Venture into the land of the unknown and we have to pay attention to

That and I’m looking at several things because I took some notes yesterday talking about this subject and I just felt the need and the desire to try to Enlighten people at some of the stuff that I learned because as y’all know I got sources everywhere okay so I’m gonna

Find out what the hell is going on it’s what I do all right and so you got to look at certain things and see it for what it is and understand what exactly is trying to iring basically to me what transpired was this folks are feeling they were too

Small to compete with the likes of Netflix Amazon and apple that’s really what this comes down to I mean when you talk about the market cap by the way that’s the value of a company if it brought back you know all in its stock if it brought back all in

Its stock and stuff like that for Warners you know it’s 24 billion for Disney reportedly it was about 180 billion ladies and gentlemen Amazon if you’re thinking about its market cap is at 1.75 trillion apple is at 2.9 trillion trillion so to me these entities had to do

Something and what I’m telling people is pay attention to the landscape when you think about linear television what I try to tell people all the time th is yes people love the big screen and there is no doubt about that but pay attention to this every conduit

Of change that has taken place in throughout history has been provoked and spared by younger people younger people if you are a parent just imagine this what child do you know doesn’t want to do what they want to do when they want to do it how

They want to do it with whoever and however they damn well pleas every child wants that they always know more than us they’re always wiser than us we’re always outdated and archaic and and and all of this other stuff this is what children do children are the market now obviously

Older folks like their parents are the ones that spending money but don’t you find yourself as a parent out there even as a big sibling and an old don’t you find yourself usually spending money you normally wouldn’t want to spend going places you normally wouldn’t want to go

Doing things you normally wouldn’t want to do just because of that little munchkin that you love so much that you’ll do anything for ladies and gentlemen I went ice skating me do I look like I have any interest in ice skating I never saw my daughters laugh

So hard in their life I bust my ass about six seven times inside of five minutes I cannot believe it I literally bust my ass like six or seven times why because I can’t ice skate why would I go because my daughters wanted me to

Go I don’t want to ski I don’t want to sled it’s the winter time it’s New York City in Central Park and it was a blizzard that just happened the day before and now everybody’s out there sledding and my daughter hops on a sled and she slides down the hill and I’m

Literally running running running sprinting after her because I don’t want her to crash and she’s going straight into a tree and I literally died to save her and she went right into the tree and jumped off right before she hit the tree only to watch her father crash head

First into the tree where a bunch of stuff came falling down on me and she’s laughing her ass off she did it on purpose she knew all along that she was going to jump right off right before she got to the tree but I suffered who does that parents adults

Who love kids what does this have to do with what I’m talking about it’s very simple you want to watch stuff on your phone you want to watch stuff on your tablet your iPad you want to watch stuff when you want to watch it you don’t want

Somebody telling you to watch it at 10:00 a.m. or 12:00 noon or 2:00 or whatever you want to watch it when you want to watch it how you want to watch it you don’t give a damn what anybody says that’s why digital and direct to Consumer has gotten so big that’s why

All of these apps are being created this is what’s going on this is the future props the ESPN Fox and you know Discovery for doing what they did on the brothers Discovery you got to give it the program you got to give it the program whether it’s going to go through or not

Remains to be seen you never know how the sports leagues are going to react to this you whether know whether the department of Justice is going to get involved because of monopolization or the potential of price you know you know you know price you know cost certainty

Or price fixing whatever it is who the hell knows remember years ago when WGN got into it with the NBA because they own the Chicago Bulls led by Jerry RoR and they want to air Michael Jordan playing but the league wanted to do so as well and the Department of Justice

Had to get involved anything’s possible with all of this but it’s very interesting and it’s very compelling because if this comes through which it appears it has and by subscribing to this focused allinone Premier Sports service fans would have access to the linear Sports networks including ESPN ESPN2 ESPNU SEC network

ACC Network ESPN news ABC Fox FS1 FS2 BTN TNT TBS True TV as well as ESPN plus there’s a whole bunch of options and life’s about options y’all that’s what we’re witnessing but it’s only about options for those who pay attention on how to capitalize offer those

Options that are presented to all of us think about that you’re listening live watching Stephen A Smith show over the digital Airways of YouTube coming up there’s a statue being erected outside the crypto.com arena in Los Angeles California it is to honor the late great Kobe Bryant

I will do the same as well as talk to somebody who loved him dearly and knew him as well Stephen A on Kobe Bryant up next right here on the Stephen A Smith show back with more in a minute football season is reaching this Crescendo and priz piics has created an

Offer for the big game you do not want to miss if Patrick Mahomes throws for one yard in the Super Bowl a Preposterous Nob Brin if you ask me you’ll get a win on your prospect’s entry this offer is just another the reason why prospects is taking over the

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Community of more than 3 million members today and Prospects would match your first deposit of up to $100 just download the prospects app and use code SAS those are my initials of course that’s code SAS on prize picks for a first deposit match of up to $100 prize

Picks pick more pick less it’s that easy welcome back to the Stephen A Smith show right here over the digital Airwaves of YouTube before I get to my next guest let me tell you why I have a guest coming on because on Thursday evening February 8th in downtown Los Angeles outside the crypto.com

Arena the Los Angeles Lakers will be unveiling a statue of the late great Ki Bean Bryant for those of you who are unaware just to make sure I get the record straight um other sports icons with statutes outside of the crypto.com Arena um former Lakers elen bayor Shaquille O’Neal Kareem Abdul Jabar Jerry

West and Irvin Magic Johnson former professional boxer Oscar De La Hoya also has a statue along with Sports cter Chick Hearn and Hockey Hall of Famers Wayne Gretzky and Luke robelli also commemorated with statues outside of the arena and Kobe Bryant is next Kobe Bryant as you all remember January 26

2020 um died in a helicopter accident um with his 13-year-old daughter gigg Jana and um seven others our heart still ACH for what transpired for losing all of those lives but obviously Kobe Bryant to basketball lovers everywhere the Champions everywhere stands out in our mind it’s

Why we saw that Meme and still see that Meme of Michael Jordan crying it’s still hurts before I get to my next guest 20 Seasons Kobe Bryant played all with the Los Angeles Lakers obviously a Hall of Famer fourth alltime in career points at the time of his retirement with 33,6 43 career

Points um as of this moment he’s still fourth all time actually he was third all time at the time before LeBron elevated but it’s now LeBron Kareem and car Malone as the only players who scored more points than Kobe Bryant in NBA history history name to the NBA 75th

Anniversary team the MVP of the league in the 27 20728 season five NBA titles 5-2 record in NBA Finals series two-time NBA Finals MVP career postseason record 43 career postseason series 33 and 10 and0 series two scoring titles two NBA scoring titles 18 Allstar selections third all time behind only LeBron and

Kareem Abdu Jabar 15 time all NBA 11 times on the first team 12 time all defensive team nine times on the first team and a four time allstar game MVP in case you were wondering why this statue is being erected to begin with you now

Know why one of the other things that we have to remember is that Kobe Bryant W scored 81 points in a game he did this in 2006 in January 2006 going up against the duronto Raptors his 81-point game in comparison to to the current explosion of individual offenses

In today’s game Kobe Bryant six times scored more than 60 points 18 years ago um in that game he was guarded by Jaylen Rose amongst other players needless to say it would be a perfect opportunity to speak to somebody that had to go against him that day and

Who better to talk to than a man who would arrive as the coach of the year the very next season who was coaching his Toronto Raptors in that particular game the one and only Sam Mitchell former head coach of the Tonto Raptors this is my conversation with him just a

Few minutes earlier listen up welcome back to Stephen Smith show right here over the digital Airwaves of YouTube it is my honor and privilege to have my guest on with me right now he is the former NBA coach of the year for the Toronto Raptors in the Year 2007 he was

An NBA head coach for six seasons he’s an NBA analyst on NBA TV NBA Radio doing an absolutely fabulous job he also happens to be one of my be my dearest dearest friends in NBA Circle somebody that he and I go back 30 years the one and only Sam Mitchell former head coach

Now NBA voice extraordinaire what’s up big time how are you man how’s everything man another day above dirt Stephen I can’t complain man life is good list listen man on on this particular day we we we’re getting ready to celebrate the late great Kobe Bryant who obviously passed away in a

Helicopter accident on January 6 2020 we all miss him we all love him we all rever him and they’re going to uh erect a statue outside of the crypto.com arena in his honor we all know it’s welld deserved there is no question about that but one of the things that stands out in

Everybody’s mind is that 81o performance that he put fourth many years ago going up against your coached Toronto Raptors as you reflect on that night that Kobe had that career night talk to us about what your Reflections are like I mean are they nightmarish or is an admiration

I mean what is it for you well Stephen probably the first four or five years it was a nightmare because I had that that that thing around my that chain around my neck that you know a guy scored the second uh most points in the history of

The NBA and then when I met Kobe and interviewed him years later and I got a chance to talk to him about it off air and before I can really bring it up and dive into it he stopped me he said coach what are you talking about I did what I

Had to do that night to win the game that’s it he said but I also am not you know I I also understand that if we would not have won that game people would have me selfish so I didn’t I he said I just looked at it as I did what I

Had to do to win the game and I really believe Kobe when he said that Stephen because you know it wasn’t a little smirk on his face it was just like coach I’m about winning championships if it’s not about if it’s not gonna lead me to a

Championship it’s not going to make me happy or make me smile and that’s the thing that I loved and respected about him so much he was about the big picture the bottom line if he had to go take score 81 to win that was his mindset

Stephen if you go back in that game we were winning that game until the fourth qu you were up 18 yeah and we had never beat the Lakers in La before so for us being a young team scratching for every win trying to beat the Los Angeles

Lakers on that floor it was a big deal so even though Kobe was doing what he was doing you know in the huddles and timeout Stephen I tried a triangle in two I play box in one Play Zone I played every defense imaginable and that’s why

Kobe had so much respect for what we did it wasn’t an easy 81 points I saw Luca score 73 in Atlanta the other night no defense 60 them were EAS no 60 of them were is a layup line it was embarrassing what the Atlanta HKS was doing against

Luca when he dropped 73 on them the other night but going back to what you were just saying about Kobe when you and I talked about it years ago because people like jayen rose was on the squad and he would take some heat because somebody would say you know Kobe dropped

81 on you and they did a commercial together and all that stuff was a lot of fun uh you know back in the day but as you explained and as jayen Rose thoroughly explained it wasn’t one person you tried everything so from a basketball perspective put in the detail

Exactly what you employed to neutralize Kobe Bryant and the bodies that you put in front of him to try to pull it off cuz Chris bot was on that team too and how it just didn’t work Steve everybody who played in that game got a piece of that 81 even some of

The coaches cuz they were coming throwing ideas at me that we were trying we all took a bite of that 81 that night because we threw everything at him because at the end of the day we wanted to win the game and jayen was right we

Played box in one Stephen I I had not remembered a triangle in two since high school and college I implored that from memory because it was played against me in my small conference at Mercy I brought that out I also brought in put Jose Carter on and your only job was

Trying to deny Kobe the ball for 84t and then Morris Peterson everybody Chris Bosch everybody got a piece of that 81 you know and and as you reflect on it I mean again we’ve seen you know Back in the Day Will Chamberlain scores 100 points 44 years earlier than that uh

Since that time nobody has done that we’ve seen Devin Booker drop 70 we’ve seen Luca donic drop 73 we’ve seen many 60-point performances or what have you knowing basketball the way that you do is this the greatest offensive performance you’ve ever seen in your lifetime it was that I’ve seen Stephen

Because the difficulty I mean he was picking up his dribble and we was crowding and he was giving us three four pump fakes and turning around spinning around shooting Fade Away jump shots I’ve never seen a guy make so many off-balance tough shots before in my

Life and man the admiration and love and respect I had for that young man is second to n because Stephen people forget I played against Kobe early in his career his rookie year his first three years Indiana right or Minnesota Indiana or Minnesota yeah I know in

Minnesota okay I played against Kobe his rookie year as a matter of fact Stephen I tell I joke with him before he passed all the time I said dude the reason you gave my team 81 because you remember your rookie year Kobe was guarding me

And I torched him in the post like four or five buckets in a row I was hitting with that drop drop step then that jump hook over the left shoulder and he and and I never forget all he kept doing was looking at me like one day I’m gonna get

You back right we’re talking to Sam Mitchell the former head coach of the Toronto rapt is now a voice on NBA radio and NBA TV doing a fantastic job my buddy for the last 30 years or so you know I reflect on Kobe and and you can’t

Help but get sad for a multitude of reasons number one somebody so young going entirely too soon tragically seven others including his 13-year-old daughter at the time Giana I mean she’s going as well God bless her soul and so that’s one element of sadness but strictly from a basketball perspective I

Think about the culture that exists in the NBA today and you see the money that’s being paid you see these guys and you know the load management issues that people have lamented you know Department you know Sports you know the sports the strength and conditioning side the GMS

The owners sitting players and stuff like that and you find yourself on numerous occasions particularly since so many people are so quick to allude to Black Mamba mentality that you know what if that was Kobe you wouldn’t have been able to do that you wouldn’t have been

Able to sit down like that you wouldn’t you wouldn’t have been taking days off we’ve seen Kobe with a separated show to come back into a game we’ve seen Kobe have a dislocated finger have Gary ve pop it back and place and go right back

On the court we’ve seen him even as last you know when he got injured with his Achilles we saw him literally come on the court drag his foot on the court to sink both free throws and then draged his foot off the court this is what

We’ve seen from him I wonder how often do you think about Kobe and you ask yourself about today’s game in an unflattering fashion I asked that question Stephen it’s funny you ask me that I think about him all the time you know I keep I got about four photos in

My office one of Kevin Garnett with his picture on on his book uh a bunch of my team picturers and I have one pitcher over my left shoulder with me and Kobe Bryan and braing uh the last game the last year he played uh his last time I

Coached against him I walked out on the floor and gave him a big hug and I told him I loved him and I told him man he he made the sport of basketball better he was nothing nothing but an ambassador for the game and that the way he loved

And played the game is second to none and so when I think about him Stephen it’s not the 81 points I think of how great a player he was and I often think he doesn’t get the respect in love Kobe Bryan should be in the conversation of

The one of the great of the greatest players you look at his championships I think he was like 12 times First Team all defense right nobody nobody has done the things he did on both sides of the floor and we don’t give the love and I

Think people don’t get the love for him because Kobe kind of rubb people the wrong way but Stephen he was all about business he was all about winning and if it wasn’t a championship at the end of the year to him it was a waste of year

So he didn’t get caught up in the numbers of how many points I scored and those things like that he honestly felt like he did what he had to do to win and and and and the thing that’s amazing to me to your point when I hear all these

Young players talk about the mama mentality and yet they taking games off and Stephen you know this you know you covered the lead back in the day if a Coach would have came in the locker room and told a star player I’m gonna rest you tonight because you look tired he

Would have got cussed out beat up thrown out it would have been a fight we were gonna play because we love to play now if you want to give me the day off give me practice off the next day or something like that but I’m not taking no game off uhuh no especially

If I’m on the road in a city that I only visit once a year because I wanted them fans to know that I was coming to town doesn’t that make you doesn’t that make it feel like folks have a justification to be pissed off at any player who mentions Mamba mentality in

Today’s generation I shouldn’t say any player because like when LeBron takes a rest I’m not sweating that 21 years in the league 39 years of age I give that brother pass we know that Steph Curry had injuries in the past and he always loves playing what got we know that

Kevin Durant ain’t never taken any days off unless unless he really needs it he just loves the ball the same with dein Booker he got to be real engine out Russell Westbrook he ain’t taking days off he got to be out for some reason there’s a few that you can trust but

Overall the mentality I think that when they bring up black mama mentality I think I don’t think they’d be thinking about it nearly as much as what its true definition is would didn’t you say I agree with you Stephen I just think they don’t understand it sounds

Good it sounds it sounds tough it sounds like the thing that you want to say but if you’re not going to live it if you’re not going to breathe it if you’re not going to put the work behind it then they’re just words and you can look at

These guys and tell man the work that Kobe put in I saw a work out with him individually once where he was in the gym and working out by himself no coach no nobody and it was the greatest and hardest workout I ever seen an individual go through by thems in my

Life every move he made he was playing the game in his mind as as if a Defender was guarding him different every time and when he beat that guy he had a plan for the help Defender and the next guy and even finishing over the guy at the

Rim this guy loved the game of basketball but and and his Focus was second to n so I think some of these players they need to really go back and watch some film how Kobe played both sides of the ball before they start using his name in bang about the mama

Mentality who’s the closest guy in the NBA to Kobe Bryant today in your mind the guy that reminds me of Kobe when I watch him play with his mannerisms and stuff is dein Booker de Booker I think I think Anthony Edwards is starting to remind me Kobe

The fact that he brings it every night and he wants to win and he don’t he don’t believe in load management or none that stuff as he said last year yes nobody on my team is sitting out if they hurt that’s one thing but if they TI we

All tired we gonna play so I think those two guys for me when I watched them play I see some Kobe Bryan in having said all of that the Los Angeles Lakers is the team that he starred for the team that he’s played for the team that’s going to

Erect the statue outside of that Arena um when we think about Kobe Bryant and what he BR what he brought to the table and we reflect on the Lakers today particularly this season what comes to your mind Sam Mitchell Stephen I’m still trying to figure out

On a team with LeBron James and Anthony Davis why you still feel like you need a third star you I’ve watched the the Lakers play to beat the Boston Celtics in Boston without LeBron and AD that was a great team effort they defense was second and n and then I saw ad and

LeBron come back to two a night after and they play a solid game in their win I just think if the Lakers can start hanging their hat on defense one two listen to their coach because I saw dervingham take a team in the Boston conference no LeBron and AD right and

Beat the breaks off the Celtics so that tells me Darin Hamin coach what it tells me is that the Lakers as a whole need to buy in more they’re not the best team in La that would happen to be that would happen to be the Los Angeles Clippers I

Can’t believe that I’m about to say this it wouldn’t surprise me at all if the Clippers won the championship how you feel why are you saying that Stephen they’re the best team in basketball right now they’re the best team in basketball even better than Denver even better than Boston right now

Yeah well Boston jacked up 453 Boston jacking up 453 a game they’re getting on my nerves with that that’s I’m losing faith in Boston because of that but in and by the way just as an aside just as aside not to Bel this point I respect Missoula as the coach

But we see the difference between Missoula and eeme udoka there is a difference a a different level in coaching as far as I’m concerned yeah I just think that needs to be said but having said all of that I’m looking at the Clippers led by tou I’m looking at

The best three-point shooting team in basketball the best field goal percentage shooting team in basketball I mean these brothers are putting up points James Harden looks all World kawi Lenard looks out of this world Paul George is still an All-Star the Clippers are looking like they could win the championship

Yes isn’t that crazy the Clippers the Clippers the team that used to be the door of the NBA Stephen that when you and I first came in the league are the favors in my mind to win the championship because tyo won a championship before and for the first

Time I think James Harden has been the glue to bring this team together remember Stephen for the past three years the Clippers have been looking for a point guard because they wanted to take that weight off kawh and Paul George and now that they found their

Point guard in James hard it it frees kawhai up and and and uh and those guys to be who they are I Gotta Give I think that’s the difference I Gotta Give Russell Westbrook some love and Aiza bunny coming off the bench gladly accepted the role I think he’s been a

Leader an unsung hero on this team since James Harden has arrived I can’t say enough about Russell Westbrook who by the way played well after departing from the Lakers played well for the Clippers last year particularly in the playoffs when kawh L it went down and came in the season playing well

Before James harded arrived I Gotta Give Russell Westbrook a lot of credit Stephen A you’re right the Lakers should be ashamed of themselves the way they treated Russell the fans the organization they didn’t treat that man that man look you can say what you want about Russell but let me tell you what

You can’t say he never cheats the game never he shows up every night he plays with passionate heart all his teammates love and respect him he’s never disrespected coaches he’s never disrespected the game all he done is played his ass off every single night and so yeah we all make mistakes there

Are no perfect people or players but I can live with Russell Westbrook he can play on my team any day man I I my love for him has grown since he’s been a Clipper because I think that I think he’s the leader of the squad I really

Really do having said all of that before I let you get on out of here what is it going to be like if the Los Angeles Lakers erect the statue when they erect the statue for Kobe Bryan unveil this statue but then in the same season that

They do that the Los Angeles Clippers are the ones that win their first ever NBA championship well Stephen most of the tears initially are gonna be because we don’t have Kobe with us right then it’s going to be tears of joy because he’s getting we’re erecting a statue and we’re

Celebrating the man the player the Father the Laker the the the state of California the NBA legend right but then as soon as that dies down and the Clippers raised that Championship balance it’s gonna be more tears it’s gonna be the tears that the Lakers have finally realized there a second banana

In La they ain’t the show no more and when that new Arena get erected with that crypto.com is gonna be yeah compared to the new Arena think about this Stephen A the Clippers goingon to have the best arena maybe the best team in all the NBA would

LeBron James want to go play for the Clippers well here’s my qu here’s my question this is the very last question Sam and thank you for your time on this the other day people thought I was crazy I said LeBron James won another championship right look at the way my

New York Knicks are looking now I understand you probably have to give up Julius Randle and I don’t want that to happen because I’d like LeBron with the rest of the squad but if LeBron was in New York and the Knicks had an opportunity to win a championship theck

Knicks do have 11 Draft Picks 11 firstr draft picks over the next seven years the Los Angeles Lakers if you’re not going anywhere why hold on to LeBron James why not ask him if you can trade him because you ain’t gonna do it if he

Doesn’t want to why not ask him if you can trade him and get those draft Assets in return for a 39 going on 40y year old LeBron James that’s going to amount to about four or five first round picks because New York will do it why not

I agree I wouldn’t give up Julius Randle because it’s a salary cap gonna be you can’t keep them both you can’t be both yeah yeah but man giving up juli see I’ve always been a fan of Julius Randle and as much as I love LeBron but

But Stephen you may want to do it because we keep thinking at some point LeBron is gonna let it go and and retire but as the way he’s playing right now it looks like he’s gonna play at least another two or three years so it would be an interesting conversation to have

If the if the Lakers were interested in doing it the question is would the Knicks do it I think the Knicks would do it I think the Lakers would be hesitant because LeBron wouldn’t want to my problem with LeBron is why would you want to stay in La if the Clippers are

Winning and you’re not and you don’t really have a viable opportunity to do so because you can’t improve the team because you don’t have any draft Equity or tradeable out assets outs you know assets outside of you and Anthony Davis to give to somebody else that would be

My position but that’s just me Sam Mitchell appre appreciate you my brother thank you so much for coming on and enlightening us and revisiting Kobe Bryant’s epic performance against your then Toronto Raptors appreciate you appreciate your NBA expertise and you know I’m gonna be talking to you a whole

Bunch in the near future as the playoffs approach man hey man I just want to say this I watch you every morning I listen to your podcast and bro it’s hard to believe somebody could get even better than it’s it’s hard I don’t even know what the word is when you’re great at

Something and you get better so when we come up with a word we’re going to attach that word you my brother because as great as you are you’re getting better thank you my brother love you my man I appreciate you man we’ll talk soon love you too all right Bross take it

Easy one and only Sam Mitchell coach of the Toronto Raptors back in 2006 when Kobe Bryan dropped 81 points coach of the year in 2007 by the way let’s not forget that um you are listening live to the Stephen A Smith show right here over the digital Airwaves of YouTube watching

The Stephen A Smith show live of course more when we come back got a few other things to get into before I get into the tweets and the calls stick around don’t touch that doal back with more in a minute okay everybody you know what time

It is it’s time for Stephen A’s weekly picks now look I’ve teamed up with prize picks to bring you my favorite sports picks each and every single week you see prize picks is a skill-based real money daily fantasy sports game where you you select two or more players and predict

If they will have more or less than their stat projection for the game but the part that I love it’s not just about football or basketball you can actually play across any sport you watch and any part of the game the first quarter the first half or the second half and if you

Go to prospect.com right now and you use promo code SAS you receive a 100% deposit bonus up to $100 you heard me right now go to prospects.com type in my initials SAS for a first-time deposit match up to $100 but today here’s the deal I’m not selecting any

Sports okay I’m going all in with food that’s right I want to know if more or less a four and a half of these Super Bowl foods will be on your plate during the game I got eight items for you buffalo chicken dip buffalo wings jalapeno poppers not Peppers poppers jalapeno poppers

Guacamole spinach and oke dip hummus naos and potato skins see black people and white people are different man you know I mean somebody’s got to say it so I’m going to say it you know H black people and white people are different I’m I’m I’m using

My old Bernie ma voice God Rest of Soul black white folks I love you we different we different okay we different but we the same we different but we the same listen to me black folks ain’t having a bunch of hummus around we might like it we might

Try it but hummus around Super Bowl weekend I don’t know about that nachos some you know with the creamy cheese right you got have that potato skins no we might have some fries but potato skins I don’t know if black people Groll like that forget the jalapeno poppers we

Ain’t trying to deal with that we ain’t trying to deal with that stuff in my in our stomach guacamole yes spinach and artichoke dip we might want to Vibe with that definitely the buffalo wings I’m gonna have to say less I’m going to have to say

Less I don’t think more than four and A half of these items is in a black kitchen others I’m just guessing it’ll probably be more by one but I’mma go with less anyway I’mma roll with what I think me myself and I I’m G to say less than four

And a half of those foods will be on your plate but it’s still enough there so eat up welcome back to Stephen A Smith show thanks again to the one and only Sam Mitchell former head coach of the Toronto Raptors former head coach in Minnesota who’s now an NBA analyst on

NBA TV and NBA radio and a be dear friend of mine we go back about 30 years really appreciate him taking time out of his schedule to join me um let me transition to a couple of things before I go to the tweets and get on out of

Here for the day did y’all see what happened with Nick Hy who’s running for the president of the United States former un Ambassador former governor of South Carolina who’s running for president of the of of the United States did you see what happened she got stomped yesterday right here in Nevada right

Here there was a Nevada symbolic Republican presidential primary as go GOP voters resoundingly picked the quote quote unquote none of these candidates category over her ladies and gentlemen somebody said if somebody said your name right Nikki Hy and your competition was anybody but you none of these candidates and everybody they don’t even

Know who none of these are and they pick them over her I it is the epitome of insignificance the epitome of insignificance it’s just embarrassing it just shows you they have no intentions whatsoever on voting for you over Donald Trump it it it I I mean we’re waiting to

See what happens in your former State South Carolina and super Tuesday but we we pretty much know what’s going to happen and you’re riding on the possibility of him being convicted of a felony and as a result he he’s a felon but guess what they’ll still vote for him over

Nicki hilly that’s what they said remember Donald Trump didn’t compete in Tuesday’s primary which doesn’t award any delegates needed to win the GOP nomination so the result is technically meaningless in the Republican race but it still amounts to an embarrassment for Nicki Haley who sought to position

Herself as a candidate who can genuinely compete against Trump and that doesn’t appear to be the case instead she became the first presidential candidate from either party to lose a race to none of these candidates since that option was introduced in Nevada in 1975 nearly 50 years ago of course Trump

Was going to take advantage of it because he jumped on his social media he jumped on the social media Network and joked watch she’ll soon claim victory I I gotta tell you I gotta tell you you know he’s gonna troll you you know he’s gonna troll you none of these

Candidates how do you gonna Nikki Hy how you going to make television appearances after this and and and and people said we’ll pick none of these candidates over you so they’ll pick no one over you but that’s who they would prefer so they really prefer no one instead of you damn

That’s pretty bad that’s just just pretty bad so that’s really it what that that’s really all I wanted to say about that now let me transition to another subject one last piece of official NBA news because it’s official your boy Yours Truly that would be

Me I swear I don’t know why agreed to do this for my boss at ESPN but damn it him in the NBA asked me to do it they want me to coach the 2024 NBA Allstar celebrity game of course it’s got to be against my man Club sha Shay

Night cap Shannon sharp it gotta be against it gotta be against him he got to be there too you understand saying the Hulk one of the greatest tit end in the history of football a three-time Super Bowl champion or Hall of Famer suddenly qualifies to be a basketball

Coach at a celebrity All-Star Game you see what I’m saying you see what I’m saying now I won’t get into the fact that Shannon sharp having a party here at Super Bowl week on a Wednesday night and neglected to tell me about it until the last minute because he was

Scared that I would be rocking a better wardrobe than him and he tried to keep it from me so I wouldn’t bring nothing fly with me I know that’s what he was doing I know that’s what you was doing Club sh sh I know that’s what you was

Doing all right cuz you was scared that I was going to come with a rock and a fly outfit but that’s neither here nor there the point is and please put it back up there so I can see the list I don’t know why you would take the list

Off the screen my brother here’s the deal team SAS that would be me of course Jennifer Hudson we know she’s a fabulous singer but can she shoot common you might be able to answer that question for me Lakers former great meta World pieace Basketball Entertainer Jack Ryan Singer AJ McAn I’m

Excited about Houston Texans quarterback CJ stad I watched him shoot he could shoot a jump shot he plays some basketball Chef Quan quame Ani I hope I pronounced his name right if I didn’t I apologize WNBA player Natasha Cloud I’m down for that musician Adam Blackstone and Olympic high jump

Jump Champion Jan Marco tambury shanon’s team Micah Parsons for the Dallas Cowboys Conor daily actor Quin Isaiah WNBA Allstar Jewel Lloyd streamer and YouTuber Kai sonat or Sate is that how you pronounce his name look I don’t know I don’t want to abuse anybody’s name but

Damn it if I don’t know I don’t know actor Dylan Wong an actress and YouTuber Lily Singh singer songwriter sir country music singer Walter Hayes who’s performing with Keith Urban as part of the event Saturday festivities and Latin singer nelaa be my second time coaching the

Celebrity game I did it back in 2020 against Mike Wilborn his team beat me by 15 points they had ringers on the squad and I got a tech I got a tech during that game I’m the first coach in history that was given a technical foul I nearly got thrown out the

Game somehow I suspect this time I might get thrown out the game might not be an almost but I’m going against Shannon the one thing that you won’t see me doing is fist fighting with him I’m not stupid so let me just get that out the way you

Know Shannon don’t try to come with no fly outfit you know for for the Celebrity Game brother it ain’t gonna work you understand what I’m saying because chances are if you come with a bad outfit you’ll have the wrong shoes on I know you I know you let’s move on

To the tweets before we get on out of here for the day the Stephen A Smith show thank y’all for joining me um some of these tweets man y’all are really making me nervous with some of the stuff that y’all are asking add a I’m gonna

Put on my glasses to make sure I could read this you know I mean good Lord at no no k n o w r o fall ball right can you build a Starting Fire from NFL players I’m assuming you’re talking basketball I don’t know because I haven’t seen enough of them play

Basketball I know miles Garrett can play I definitely know that um I’m going to assume that mik apostas could play a little bit because why be a Dallas Cowboy and show up to a celebrity Allstar basketball game if you can’t play the brother’s many things he ain’t

Stupid uh I’mma go with CJ stra I’mma do that um I saw Patrick Mahomes playing high school ball I saw some of his highlights I’mma roll with that uh uh who else can I pick who else you know what out of the blue I’m gonna go with a

DeAndre Hopkins he looks like he can ball he looks like he can ball so that’s going to be the answer to my question for those guys right there that’ll be my starting five Here Comes somebody else at BW Wings boneless or traditional traditional my brother traditional traditional like traditional wings um I

Don’t like the Boneless because you sticking the bone out you pulling the bone out what you put in there if it’s boneless what you put in there what do you mean boneless wings now I understand the breast what you mean boneless wings what’s up with that I’m not feeling that

And that’s Buffalo Wild Wings too I don’t know what’s up with that I’m not going for that no I’m not trusting that okay so I’m going to go with traditional all right you happy now let’s go with that this other one writes at Sinestro might NT writes who you got

Winning this fight heat blast or big chill interesting I’m going to go with heat blast number one when you go with Big Chill first of all I don’t like the cold I’m a black man let’s get that out the way I try to avoid the cold as much as I

Possibly can I getting cold plunges often these days kills me I suffer a lot but I look good when I come out but cold it’s like okay you freezing somebody but you also know what you you’re doing you’re preserving them see heat blast you blast somebody with the

Heat think Game of Thrones with the dragons when he comes you know and just fries you up you’re done you’re reduced to ashes and when you’re competing against people what do you want to do you want to demoralize them and end them that’s what you want to do okay I say

Heat blast is the way to go okay that’s how I’m feeling this right now that’s the kind of mood that I’m in so I wanted to say that okay last one oh my God are y’all ready for this question are y’all ready for this question and by the way something is

Wrong with this kid Greg what are you doing giving out your phone number looking for a woman at greg1 1667 69 35420 that’s a number you looking for a honey is that what you’re doing look you have my number all you got do is go to my Twitter handle really come on brother

But listen to this question you’re in an arena with 50 Hawks 10 crocodiles three brown bears 15 wolves one Hunter with a rifle seven Cape buffalos 10,000 rats five gorillas and four Lions I’mma say that again 50 Hawks 10 crocodiles three brown bears 15 wolves one Hunter with a rifle seven buff Kate

Buffalos 10,000 rats five gorillas four Lions pick two to defend you while the others attack you the goal is to survive one hour do y’all are y’all ready for this for me lions are the king of the jungle I’m rolling with the Lions and are y’all ready for this 10,000

Rats I didn’t say mice I said rats I’m going with the rats let me tell you something right now I don’t know too many things in life that would stick around a fight with 10,000 rats so let’s get that out the way that’s number one number two I can pretty much guarantee

You it won’t be the one Hunter with a rifle because you ain’t gonna get five of those rats what about the 9,995 left coming at you good luck with that you don’t want no pieces of that 10 crocodiles you could say that but that’s you in the water not on land okay three

Brown bears please they ain’t trying to fight no rats 15 wolves they ain’t trying to do it either all right seven Kate Buffalo only seven of y’all a minute you see them nigging nipping away at your at your heels and stuff you gonna run like the elephants

Do all right and your skin ain’t as thick as the elephants all right so let’s get that out the way okay five gorillas come on now so the Lions and the 10,000 rats I don’t see how you you going to beat that 10,000 rats how you going to beat

That that’s easy to me that’s my first choice I’m thinking about 10,000 rats beating all of them I mean again the goal is to survive an hour but you got to get through 10,000 rats to get to me I’m going with the 10,000 rats and by

The way the Lions will take care of the gorillas for me the Buffalo for me I don’t know about the 50th wolves but they’ll take a few of them out that’s what I’m going to feel like I’m going with the Lions and the 10,000 rats that’s it for this edition of the

Stephen A Smith show thank y’all for joining me I will be back tomorrow and Friday bringing the Stephen A Smith show your way I hope you enjoyed today’s episode until next time everybody peace of love take care

On The Stephen A. Smith Show, Smith gives you his renowned point of view, breaking barriers beyond the world of sports, and tackling pertinent issues across entertainment, pop culture, society, business, and politics. Three times a week, you’ll hear his LIVE unfiltered opinions on the day’s biggest headlines as well as straight-shooting interviews with top celebrities, game-changers, and thought leaders across the societal arena.

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