‘An Absolute Travesty!’ Stephen A. Smith Goes OFF on NBA Players for ‘Flagrant Lack of Effort’ in All-Star Game
Stephen A. Smith called out NBA players following another lackluster All-Star Weekend that ended with one of the worst All-Star Games in recent memory.
The Eastern Conference All-Stars beat the West 211-186, setting a new scoring record for the game. In the past, the stars have been criticized for not playing defense and putting forth very little effort overall. On Sunday night, however, the game seemingly reached a new low with even less defensive effort and even more scoring.
The game was so bad that Commissioner Adam Silver couldn’t hide is frustration during a the trophy presentation.
Even Adam Silver had trouble hiding how embarrassing that product was
I honestly have no idea how to fix it either, the star players have all the power in this league, if they don’t care nothing will change
— Jared Smith (@jaredleesmith) February 19, 2024
On Monday’s episode of First Take, Smith slammed the players for what he called a “flagrant lack of effort.”
“Ladies and gentlemen, what transpired last night was an absolute travesty,” Smith said, adding:
Nearly 400 points were scored. No defense. No effort whatsoever. This is the ultimate indictment against the NBA stars who show up on NBA All-Star Weekend. You play harder in the Summer League when you’re training. That’s all anybody’s asking [for]. We all know that when you’re playing in the summertime and stuff like that, ain’t nobody trying to get hurt; but you still give one another effort because you’re working on your game. You can give the fans at least that.
“The fact that you would go out there and flagrantly show such a lack of effort on the defensive side of the ball in any capacity is just a travesty. Now, if you wanna sit up there and look at the fact that the kids are there to watch you, that’s fine because they may not care; but anybody that knows basketball does. And we know it’s a flagrant lack of effort and it’s embarrassing; and we know if money was on the line, you’d be giving more effort even though you’re already getting paid hand over foot. It’s really a travesty,” he concluded.
Watch above via ESPN
