Stephen A. crushes Warriors with NSFW tirade after rout originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
Love him or hate him, Stephen A. Smith generally has been a pro-Warriors pundit throughout the season.
In fact, JJ Redick called him out a couple of days ago for “backpedaling” from his proclamation that Golden State would win the NBA Finals.
Well in true “First Take” style, the bombastic talking head took a sledge hammer to the Warriors’ embarrassing performance in a 134-95 loss the Memphis Grizzlies in Game 5 at FedExForum.
Taking the “a** whipping” part aside, Smith points out, “The star that’s gone from the team is not yours. It’s not like Steph Curry wasn’t playing. It’s not like Klay Thompson wasn’t playing. It’s not like Jordan Poole wasn’t playing. It’s not like Draymond Green wasn’t playing. Ja Morant wasn’t playing.”
NBA Twitter trolled the Warriors as well. Klay Thompson fully agreed, calling it “awful” and “embarrassing.” Warriors’ interim head coach Mike Brown wanted to flush it “right down the toilet.”
“We’ve seen the Memphis Grizzlies enjoy success without the services of Ja Morant this year,” Smith continued. “And we’ve marveled at it. But nonetheless, nobody in their right mind would believe that you were going to see what you saw last night. I thought Memphis could win this game… It doesn’t matter what happens in Game 6 if the Golden State Warriors win. It don’t erase what we saw last night. That was an atrocity. That was one of the worst performances I have ever seen.”
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The Grizzlies were 20-5 in the regular season without Morant, and now have split two games without him in this series.
If there is one silver lining for the Warriors, it’s that the Milwaukee Bucks suffered a 39-point loss to the Brooklyn Nets last postseason. Of course they won the NBA title. The Warriors and Dub Nation hope history repeats itself.
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