Stephen A. Smith Brutally Fumbles and Mocks Nigerian Basketball Player’s Name: ‘However The Hell You Pronounce’ It

Brandon ContesJul 12th, 2021, 5:01 pm
 

USA Basketball opening its Olympic summer by losing to Nigeria was a stunning defeat. But it doesn’t excuse the mockery ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith made of Nigeria’s national team.

“There’s no excuse to lose to Nigeria,” Smith said Monday on First Take. “[To lose to] some dude Gabe Nnamdi, who goes by Gabe Vincent for the Miami Heat. Or Caleb Agada. Or Nma…however the hell you pronounce his name. You give up 60 points on 3’s? Excuse me, you can do better than that.”

Smith appeared to be referring to Ike Nwamu — who scored 13 points in the upset victory. Nigeria entered the game as a 30-point underdog to the United States. Bashing a United States men’s national basketball team, chock full of NBA stars, for losing to Nigeria is a fair take. Dismissing Nigeria’s basketball team and mocking someone’s African surname, though, is out of bounds.

After hearing Smith’s assessment of them on ESPN, Nigeria basketball fired back on Twitter. “A one minute clip with no basketball analysis and pure disrespect to the names of our culture. Do better please,” they wrote, tagging Smith in the tweet. “This is low, even for you.”

Even though they were massive underdogs, Nigeria’s national team does feature eight NBA players on their roster. The gaffe added to what was already a controversial day on First Take for Smith, after he criticized MLB superstar Shohei Ohtani for using an interpreter during interviews.

Watch above via, ESPN

Tags: