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ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith has used his platform to vouch for more Black coaches in the NBA, asking players to align with him on progressing the issue.

So when Smith learned another White coaching retread is in search of his next opportunity, the ESPN sports talker was expectedly triggered.

Currently an assistant for the star-studded Brooklyn Nets, Mike D’Antoni reportedly thinks he’s ready to lead a team again, with his sights set on Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers.

“How many damn chances you supposed to get?” Smith asked. “The man coached James Harden, Steve Nash, Kobe Bryant, all of these guys he had and not a single trip to the Finals to show for it.”

“I am sick and tired of coaches. WHITE COACHES! Getting chance, after chance, after chance,” he ranted on ESPN’s First Take.

“I’m not saying Mike D’Antoni doesn’t deserve to be a head coach,” Smith added. “But let him go and get one of them retreads and make them relevant. Why does he always gotta get a Damian Lillard caliber…why do you gotta have someone like that in your stable, because there are plenty of coaches that don’t have that!”

D’Antoni has already been gifted four head coaching opportunities during his NBA career. All four tenures ended with D’Antoni either allowing his contract to expire or resigning, having never been fired from a head coaching job in the NBA.

Last year,

after it was announced D’Antoni would join the Nets as an assistant, Smith criticized the NBA coach for being a “master of departing jobs right when he knows he’s gonna get fired.” That commentary lines up with Charles Barkley’s recent take, claiming White coaches part ways with teams, while Black coaches get fired.

Watch above via, ESPN

Tags: Brooklyn Nets, ESPN, First Take, Mike D'Antoni, NBA, Portland Trail Blazers, Stephen A. Smith