Stephen A. Smith Trolls Nets Fans, Says Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving Blew it By Not Signing With Knicks: ‘They Got Their Bag, And Got Their Money’

According to Vegas, the Brooklyn Nets are favored to win this season’s NBA championship — something no New York metro area team has done since 1973. It seemingly justifies the decision by Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving to sign with Brooklyn, but hot take artist Stephen A. Smith still believes the superstars should regret passing on the New York Knicks.

“Hell yeah! Absolutely, absolutely they should,” Smith said emphatically after being asked on First Take Monday whether or not Durant and Irving should regret passing on the Knicks, New York’s heritage NBA franchise.

After nine straight victories and closing in on their first playoff appearance since 2013, the Knicks might not be New York’s most dominant NBA team, but they certainly still dominate the city’s basketball headlines.

“There is nothing in New York like when the Knicks are winning! There is nothing in New York like when the New York Knicks are relevant,” Smith added. “When you look to the streets of New York city, they are on a nine-game win streak and you have folks out there acting like [the Knicks] won the damn championship already.”

Moving from New Jersey to Brooklyn and acquiring three elite players made the Nets more relevant now than when they had Stephon Marbury running the point two decades ago, but even championship aspirations can’t make them the lead franchise in New York. Just as the Mets are with the Yankees and the Jets are with the Giants, the Nets remain secondary to the Knicks.

“When you talk about KD and Kyrie Irving, we know that they got their bag and got their money,” Smith said. “No matter what they have, no matter what they achieve in Brooklyn, it would have been nothing compared to if they were doing it with the New York Knicks.”

“They have to win the championship in Brooklyn for anyone to care, but in New York? With the Knicks? They would not have to do that for people to care,” Smith added.

Knicks fans would still demand a championship if Durant and Irving chose them over the Nets in 2019, but the spotlight would be much bigger regardless of how the season concluded. Every game would be an event, whether a regular season contest or the playoffs. That’s what Durant and Irving missed by signing with the Nets, but that’s not to assume it’s what they wanted.

Watch above via, ESPN

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