Stephen A. Smith and Chris Russo Get Into Heated Argument Over Stephen Curry’s NBA Finals History

ESPN analysts Stephen A. Smith and Chris “Mad Dog” Russo got into a heated argument on Wednesday over Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry’s legacy in the NBA Finals.

The dispute on First Take comes a day before the NBA Finals between the Warriors and the Boston Celtics.

The discussion started with a graphic showing that Curry is 9-1 with superstar Kevin Durant – who played for the Warriors between 2016 and 2019 in which he won two championships – and 8-10 without him. Curry has won one championship without Durant, who now plays for the Brooklyn Nets.

Russo remarked that Curry “was not good in the big game and could not get his team home up 3-1 … with two home games” in the 2016 NBA Finals, which was won by the Cleveland Cavaliers, led by hometown hero LeBron James, in seven games.

“Let’s not forget that before we sit there and put Curry on this high class as I think my little buddy over here might do momentarily,” said Russo, referring to Smith.

Russo said that “Durant was the better player” than Curry in the championships the two won together in 2017 and 2018.

Smith said Curry “has to be indicted” for poor play in the final three games of the 2016 championship series. However, continued Smith, Magic Johnson was called “Tragic Johnson” for struggling in the NBA Finals against the Celtics, who won against Johnson’s Los Angeles Lakers in seven games in 1984 only for the Lakers to come back and win the championship the following year.

Smith defended Curry and cited him averaging more than 25 points per game, 6 assists and five rebounds in his playoff career. But Curry had to be “deferential” to Durant when he was there given Durant’s prowess on the offensive side of the ball.

“Let’s pump the breaks a little bit on being critical of Stephen Curry and instead recognize the fact that he just is, no crime in not being Kevin Durant, 6-11 with a 7-6 wingspan that can shoot from three’s, got a mid-range game that’s lethal, can finish in the open court, can score, can generate … can register an 88 percent free throw shooting [percentage],” said Smith. “This is Kevin freaking Durant we’re talking about here. Let’s respect that when we’re talking about Steph Curry.”

Smith and Russo went back and forth, yelling over each other while debating Johnson and Curry’s past of losing and winning in the NBA Finals – a summary of which is too much to describe here and can be watched in the video above.

Watch above, via ESPN.