Kenny Smith said he called Stephen A. Smith regarding his criticism of Kyrie Irving when the “First Take” host had beef with the Mavericks star throughout the 2022 season.
During TNT’s pregame show Tuesday ahead of Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals between the Mavericks and the Timberwolves, Kenny explained how he got Stephen A. to “fall back” in his previous battle with Irving.
“There’s been a relentless change within the thought process about [Irving] by the mass media. As a basketball player, we’re not talking about his political and social stances and searching at him in a negative view,” Kenny said while discussing Irving’s growth.
“I’ll say it; I wasn’t going to say it. I’ve never said it to Kyrie, but I’ve said it to Stephen A. — because at one time Stephen A. was an advocate about having a battle with this guy — and I needed to call Stephen, I’m like, ‘this guy is from our neighborhood.’
“I named like six people, and I said, ‘Stephen, those people mentored you mentored him, so whenever you say something about him you’re actually saying it about us.’ So he understand they usually sort of fell back.
“As a media person, we have now to know that young men undergo young things. They grow up, they appreciate things they usually have a special view point then we may need had.”
On “First Take” on Wednesday morning, Stephen A. confirmed the conversation and that he was within the fallacious.
“He was 1,000-percent correct… Kenny Smith and I am going back a long time,” Stephen A. said, noting that Kenny’s brother, Vincent, trained him at Lost Batallion Hall in Queens when he was in junior high.
Charles Barkley agreed that Irving has shown significant growth, but explained that the NBA champ deserved an eight-game suspension by this former team, the Nets, in November 2022 — when he sat out without pay after he shared a social media post a couple of book and movie that feature antisemitic tropes.
On the time, Irving issued an apology, but the Nets said he was “unfit to be associated” with the team due to his failure to make clear and disavow antisemitism when give then opportunity during a post-game media session.
“Yeah, all that stuff is nice. He self-inflicted himself, he’s got to take some responsibility,” Barkley said Tuesday. “I feel he’s grown up. I feel he’s matured. Stephen A. and other people criticized him and he deserved it. You’ll be able to’t go on the market being antisemitic. You’ll be able to do the vaccination thing, that’s your individual thing. But he deserved the criticism he got. He deserved the suspension he got.
“But as a basketball player, I feel he’s really grown up…. We’ve all made mistakes. I’ve done loads of silly things, but in some unspecified time in the future it’s essential grow up, and I feel he’s grown up.”
Irving issued one other apology when he returned to the Nets after his eight-game suspension.
“I don’t stand for anything near hate speech, or antisemitism, or anything that’s anti going against the human race,” Irving said on the time. “I feel like all of us must have a possibility to talk for ourselves when things are assumed about us. And I feel it was crucial for me to face on this place and take accountability for my actions because there was a way I must have handled all of this.”
Stephen A. was heavily critical of Irving on “First Take” for plenty of reasons throughout the All-Star’s dramatic tenure with the Nets, including his vaccine situation.
Prior to that, Stephen A. got here down on Irving for “not showing as much as work” within the 2021-22 season when he played just 29 games resulting from various absences.
During an appearance on “The Mike Missanelli Podcast” last March, Stephen A said he had “personal” differences with Irving and his father, Drederick — but cautioned that their issues don’t interfere together with his evaluation of the Mavericks guard.
“Now Kyrie and I actually have our differences on a private level, which is none of anybody’s business and I’ll never tell why,” Smith said on the time. “He knows why. And his daddy knows why.
“They understand how I feel about how they’ve acted towards me they usually understand how I feel about them and I understand how they feel about me.”
The Mavericks-Timberwolves Western Conference Finals series will proceed with Game 5 on Thursday in Dallas.
