Suns Owner Torches Stephen A. Smith for Saying He Could Be the Worst Owner in NBA History: ‘I Don’t Take Much He Says Seriously’

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Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia hit back at Stephen A. Smith after the ESPN commentator claimed he could be the worst owner in NBA history.

The Suns wrapped their season with a 109-98 loss to Sacramento Kings. With the loss, the team finished 36-46 and missed the playoffs.

For a team that employs the likes of Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal, and Devin Booker, the season could only be described as a failure — leading Smith to argue that Ishbia could be among the worst owners the league has ever seen.

“Mat Ishbia needs to understand that right now,” he said on the April 15 episode of First Take, “you are on the verge of being recognized as the worst owner in the history of basketball.”

Smith also claimed that Ishbia’s legacy would mentioned in the same vein as disgraced Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling, who was forced to sell the team after it was discovered he made racist comments about former and current players.

During a Thursday press conference, Ishbia was asked about Smith’s comments when he said:

Yeah, so Stephen A. Smith, you know, I don’t take much he says seriously. I don’t think many people do, to be honest with you. You know, the things he said about Kevin Durant — just wrong and disrespectful. The things he said about LeBron James were just disrespectful and inappropriate.

And so, with that being said, I don’t really think Stephen A. believes that what he said. I think, you know, he’s doing his thing, he’s on the mic and he’s doing what — and I think he’ll apologize to me because I think it’s disrespectful to put my name aligned with anybody that was kicked out of the league or no longer part [of it].

Like, yeah, if he wants to say for the first two-and-a-half years Mat Ishbia managed the team, we didn’t win a championship — I think you could probably say about almost every owner ever — but yeah, we had high expectations and we didn’t win. We spent a lot of money and we didn’t win. Yep, yep. Be critical of me on that, but to even say that kind of stuff, like I said, that’s just — I think, like I said, he’ll apologize. I think he’s out of line. I think he knows that. I don’t think he really believes that.

The next morning, Smith did apologize for comparing him to Sterling.

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