Stephen A. Smith – Source: Rob Carr / Getty
Following an awful NBA All-Star game, Stephen A. Smith unloaded on the low-effort performance that took place.
This weekend Indianapolis hosted the NBA’s All-Star weekend and the common consensus is that it was a lackluster failure. For the second year in a row, Riff Raff’s cousin Mac McClung won the dunk contest, and although he may have been the best dunker, he is in the G-league and not the actual NBA.
According to Complex, media personality Stephen A. Smith was disappointed with the All-Star game and didn’t bite his tongue when calling out the NBA’s best.
“What transpired last night was an absolute travesty,” Smith said. “Nearly 400 points scored. No defense, no effort whatsoever. This is the ultimate indictment against NBA stars who show up for All-Star weekend. You play harder in the summer when you’re training.”
Smith revealed that he doesn’t expect the players to act like a championship is on the line, but something has to change. He also added that since the total number of points accumulated during he game hit 400, it was nothing more than a glorified shoot-around.
“Nobody’s asking you to compete like you’re going up in a playoff game or even a regular season game,” he explained. “That is not hard. The fact that you would go out and flagrantly show such a lack of effort on the defensive side of the ball in any capacity is just a travesty.”
SAS wasn’t alone in his feelings towards the game, afterward, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver was visibly frustrated and couldn’t hide it. Earlier this year Silver implemented the first-ever in-season tournament which was a success and gave players a chance to win an extra $500,0000. Maybe the NBA All-Star game needs to put money on the line to improve the performance.
You can watch Stephen A. Smith’s full All-Star rant below.
