Kevin Durant Calls Stephen A. Smith “A Clown,” Smith Responds With Ice Cube Reference

Stephen A. Smith and Kevin Durant are caught in a war of words. During an October episode of Smith’s First Take, the talking head aired out his grievances with Durant. He questioned his ability or inability to lead a team, adding that his “greatness” warrants it.  

“I don’t question the greatness nor commitment of Kevin Durant,” Smith said. “When you are that great…you should be able to be a better leader than he has shown. He’s been relatively leaderless. He’s been very lacking in inspiration in terms of peeling out from those around him… Durant gon’ ball out, but does he get the others around him to do it?”

After Durant and the Phoenix Suns defeated the Portland Trail Blazers in a recent exhibition match, the star player voiced his opinion on Smith. When asked about his leadership, Durant opened up about his disdain for criticisms aimed at “the way he leads,” explicitly calling out Smith.

“Yeah, Stephen A., I don’t understand how people even listen to Stephen A.,” he said, according to The Athletic. “I’ve been in the league for 18 years. I’ve never seen Stephen A. at a practice, or a film session, or a shoot-around.”

“I’ve never seen him anywhere but on TV talking sh*t about players,” Durant added. “He’s a clown to me. He’s always been a clown. You can write that, too.”

Press also asked other members of the Suns about Kevin Durant’s leadership and how they felt he contributed to the team’s winning culture. Bradley Beal, Sun’s shooting guard, spoke highly of his teammate, saying, “A lot of times, you’re in your mindset, you’re in kill mode and you want everybody else to follow suit, but that encouragement that he gives, and that confidence like he gives Ryan [Dunn], that goes a long way.”

Stephen A. caught wind of the comments and issued a warning à la Ice Cube to Durant via X/Twitter. Smith insisted that he would address everything live on Monday (Nov. 4) on First Take.

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