Stephen A. Smith is certainly one of the best personalities over at ESPN. In fact, one could make the argument that he is the best personality in all of sports media. Overall, he is known for his work on First Take. However, at this point, he should be credited with keeping ESPN afloat. He is a guest on practically all of their programs, and that will not change for a long time. After all, they are paying the man close to $10 million per year, which is a very large chunk of change.
When it comes to Smith, his expertise is definitely in the world of the NBA. Now that the NFL is done for the season, Smith has more opportunities to talk about basketball. On today’s episode of First Take, that is exactly what he did with JJ Redick and Chris Russo by his side. With All-Star done, the conversation has subsequently shifted to which team is going to win the title. Consequently, this has also led to some discourse about who is facing the most pressure. In order to make it simple, Smith created a list.
Stephen A. Concocts A New List
This top five list was based on who is facing the most pressure to come through and win an NBA title. Number five on the list was Kawhi Leonard, while number four was Nikola Jokic. Additionally, Jayson Tatum was at three, James Harden was at two, and number one was Chris Paul. Redick thought this was the perfect list for numerous reasons. Overall, Paul needs a title for his legacy, as does Harden. Moreover, Jayson Tatum needs to exercise the demons from last season’s NBA Finals. As for Jokic and Kawhi, well, one needs to live up to his MVP self, while the other hasn’t done much in Los Angeles.
Chris “Mad Dog” Russo was not a huge fan of the list, claiming Kevin Durant needed to be at the top. However, as Smith pointed out, Durant has won two Finals MVPs and two rings. With that in mind, there isn’t really much pressure on him at all. Let us know what you think of Smith’s take, in the comments below. Additionally, stay tuned to HNHH for the latest news and updates from around the basketball world.
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