Stephen A. Smith is one of the most opinionated men in sports and while Smith is usually on the end of vitriol, he is now getting it from all sides. This is all thanks to his opinions on Kyrie Irving, who has refused to get vaccinated. Smith believes Kyrie is an inherently selfish player, and many aren’t liking his opinion. The vaccine remains a personal choice, and fans believe that Smith is trying to rip Irving’s autonomy away from his. For instance, this is what Smith had to say on First Take yesterday:
“So you don’t have a problem with taking the vaccine? Your position is that you’re going to sit up there and compromise the championship aspirations of a Nets organization you signed on to represent. You coaxed Kevin Durant into signing on to represent. You played a role in coaxing James Harden to signing on to represent. You’re gonna compromise all of that because you want to give a voice to the voiceless? You asked KD and James Harden to come on board to Brooklyn to establish your own legacy, and then you leave them hanging.”
Yesterday just so happened to be Stephen A. Smith’s birthday, and to celebrate, he was living it up at a club where he was surrounded by guests. Unfortunately, Smith suffered some light harassment as fans chirped him over his Kyrie stance. This forced him to create a Twitter video where he went full Joker. In the clip below, you can see Smith engaging with his detractors, noting that he won’t be stepping down anytime soon and that if someone wants to get the smoke, they can watch First Take today.
Smith takes a lot of pride in his takes, so it should be no surprise that he is refusing to back down right now. After all, the Kyrie saga is one that will continue well into the season, and it would be weak of Smith to take his foot off the gas at this juncture.
