I'll never understand why D Rose is treated as a victim of bad luck and injuries and Kawhi is treated as the bad guy because he gets injured. Both situations are bad luck and involve things out of their control, but they are viewed completely differently.
At the time, D Rose was PYLORIZED for sitting out like nearly 2 years because he had the audacity to say that he still wanted to be able to walk after playing basketball.
I also think that part of the problem is that Kawhi still looks elite when he plays. He's still out there averaging 20ppg on high efficiency (almost 50/40/90). So I think he gets more flack because he doesn't "look hurt" when he's on the court. But I think that just shows how good he is to still be giving the league buckets while dealing with a chronic injury.
As a kid from San Antonio I think his tenure there shaped a lot of narratives for him going forward. He wasn't an advocate for himself in the media. So when he started not agreeing with the medical staff on if he was healthy, guys like Tony and Manu were in the media basically saying he could play if he wanted to. Ever since then he's been seen as a nonchalant athlete who doesn't care.
bruh that "he does nothing to market your brand" is such a braindead argument. like NBA teams need the players to do marketing now? seriously? they aren't already successful enough?
I wonder if that's the root of SAS's dislike. For a guy who's fairly brilliantly turned bombast into entertainment for a career, maybe a player as low key and reserved as Kawhi offends him in some existential way.
Yes because the players marketing the game makes them more money and literally helps the entire ecosystem of the sport works. The NBA just signed a 70 Billion dollar rights contract if they weren’t able to secure it then literally thousands of people would lose their jobs. There’s at minimum 360 full time players, hundreds of coaches, and thousands of workers in front office and around the stadiums. COVID cost a lot of money that they are trying to get back it’s why there was basically two seasons in one calendar year. A player of Kawhi’s level is an important part of the ecosystem including to the Fans emotionally. Kofi is making money off this just like SAS so in a way he’s media too.
@@kodeybakerThe way you make it seem, its like Kawhi is Kofie’s slave. Stfu man lmfao. The NBA has been JUST FINE this entire time with the marketing they do have (with Kawhi not even playing mind you), and so has sports media. Why the hell do you think sports media is awful now and feels like they don’t need to switch it up. Kawhi being reserved does NOTHING to these people’s bottom lines besides the Clippers and Clippers only. You sound ridiculous.
I broke my leg wrestling and the mental CANYON it put me in took me years to dig out and feel good about myself. We need to give these dudes respect of their mental too
3:15 That's a very important point that I've noticed in sports discussion about injuries people treat the shit like its a video game a lot of times where it's like "all right well just rest in your bed until you get up to 100 HP" and not as a real human being having done damage to their body which very likely will result in permanently diminished ability
I don't really blame Kawhi for wanting out of San Antonio after seeing what we've seen. If they were public with some of the stupid stuff they did, I'm sure he went through more than we know with them. I had tendinitis in my knee and it was extremely painful. I couldn't even lie in bed without having ridiculous pain. I remember weight lifting teachers and coaches downplaying my injury and it got me upset. I would give it my all on the field and court and my patella literally felt like it was going to rip in half.
SAS said Kawhi needs to retire, as if the guy isn’t trying to get back on the court. Not to mention what player markets the brand? Players market themselves but if kawhi doesn’t want to do that what’s the issue!?
as an old head, it used to be a point of pride that you were tough and played through injury and they'll point to guys who did that and were fine. Of course, as always nostalgia has us remember those few who did it and were great but ignored the dozens and dozens of players who did just that and things didn't work out great. Guys like Derek Smith, Andrew Toney, Harold Miner, and so many others who just never got better. Larry Bird had his career basically cut short and yet to this day too many people ignore the reality, like you said, playing through an injury is a bad thing. Maybe one game in the Finals or a game 7, MAYBE in a very specific situation such as that but beyond that, players are best off just getting healthy.
@@jamesmarshall6619literally watched Isaiah Thomas (modern day one) play through an injury in the playoffs and tanked his career, just to be traded the same off season and his first season back, his highlight reel is Shannon Sharpe tearing him a new one on national television.
@@thewriter8762his namesake twin, the OG Isiah Thomas is another example. Played on a busted ankle, and his career regressed afterwards. He could’ve played 3-4 more years had he had time to rest. And while it’s understandable in some cases like Isiah’s and Isaiah’s, it’s still a terrible idea to play through an injury
NBA fans that feel genuine resentment for Kawhi, I feel are displacing their feelings for Kawhi and the load management argument. I mean I had a pretty deep convo with someone that isn’t a fan of sports on how athletes are seen as products more than actual people. Fans are too parasocial and put the pride of a team’s success over the idea of people wanting to not see people deal with Chronic injuries. It’s the entitled belief of “I paid a ticket to see X player” rather than saying “I paid tickets to see X team play” like the ticket advertised. This leads to the frustration of people believing that “if I had to go to work no matter what, these millionaires should” when they know damn well they won’t show up to a physically demanding job with a broken bone or a torn ligament and smile and keep working. SAS is the example of fans that wanna blame people who want to take care of themselves and have the means to, and would rather have these people treat athletes like the commodities rather than people.
It's honestly been a blessing in disguise that SAS and ESPN is as bad as they are. If we still had the good old ESPN, I wouldn't bother coming to TH-cam to find different podcasts, Sports channels. Like it's sooo many good outlets out here that speak on sports in a very informative way without letting their personal feelings on something get in the way. If you're still watching ESPN in 2024, that's a choice.
Man.... The way Kawhi gets talked about in the media just really doesnt sit right with and its not even about Kawhi himself for me. Like just imagine being a dude who has stayed out the way most of your career then all of a sudden you get this bad run of injuries, now you getting painted in a bad light for something completly out of your control...
I was thinking exactly this. It has to be projection with a tiny sprinkle of the 2019 finals and his love for Kevin Durant and how defensive he is when people put him and Kawhi in the same sentence
I actually think differently. I wouldn’t have noticed how bad sports media can get if I didn’t have SAS as the standard of garbage. He’s the measuring stick.
@@KimaniAjamu i am living for SAS's sole positive contribution to culture being a wake up call for how degraded things have become in the public informaton ecosystem.
People see injuries like it's in a videogame, just a message that pops up and you can't use a player for a couple of in game weeks, instead of it actually being a real thing with a real person suffering immense pain, going through multiple real surgeries
Stephen A makes sense if you keep in mind that he's a capitalist & a republican. He is for the boss, the system, the establishment. If you look at the athletes he's taken issue with on a near-personal level over the years- Colin Kaepernick, Kyrie, KD, Kawhi, etc. they all go against the establishment/system in some way shape or form. For Kawhi, it's mostly likely the way he moves with his uncle and the fact that he doesn't speak which means he's not marketing the league & by extension not giving Stephen A more things to talk about. It's also not an accident that he saves this level of venom for Black players.
Nailed it. Steven A Smith is a mouthpiece for ownership and has been since he got back to ESPN. He was let go because the players lost respect for him and REFUSED to engage with him. He was brought back to ESPN with all of a sudden new sources. And every single thing he has said since has been the direct opinion of ownership. Every person you named had the ire of ownership and as such Steve A has been their attack dog. A tool.
i wish stephen A would just stop talking about sports. he doesn't have an interesting perspective, he doesn't bring new insight, he just yells and is generally a funny guy. i'd listen to him give his opinion on pokemon for an hour, but i cannot stand to listen to him talk about sports for 5 minutes
Have you seen his opinion about his TF2 starting five for the NBA? Shit is hilarious, and he doesn’t know anything about it. Dude is better outside of his regular medium and it’s tragic
This goes also to Westbrook discourse. The media has been targetting him so much for the majority of his career to the point of fans creating revisionist history and acting like hes the worst basketball player to ever live while acting like he has been dealing with injuries for the last 5-6 years
How do guys like Joel Embiid or Anthony Davis promote the league? SAS never gave us fans an example of what it is to promote the NBA because I don’t see any examples of other superstars promoting the league intentionally
1. If SAS saw Kawhi NOT play for team USA, he'd criticize him for being soft or having no heart anyway 2. SAS on this Kawhi hate parade reminds me of Skip Bayless' last act at ESPN, constantly hating on LeBron and the Heat (Bosh Spice, etc.)
I’ve always hated how people used Kawhi as the face for criticizing load management rather than mourning that we’ll never see his full potential because of injuries. It’s tragic to think that one of the best ever could’ve been even better if he stayed healthy but we’ll never get to see that. I hope in a couple years we all realize how bad these load management rules are and address the real problem that is the NBA schedule and season length.
The problem isn't the season length, it's that Anthony Edwards played 4x as many AAU games as Kobe and Mike did, so the damage is getting done when these players are young, and players used to play multiple sports, not just one, and it's actually better for you to play multiple sports as you work out different muscle groups.
Kinda unrelated but funny to me how Harden is almost an inverse “what if?” scenario to Kawhi. Kawhi has the team accolades, but his individual success never reached what we imagined. And Harden has all the individual accolades, but was on a load of teams we wish would’ve done better
Stephan A acts as if Kawhi doesn’t have a degenerative quad in addition to the knee issues. Stephan A either needs content or lost money betting on the Kawhi Leonard Clippers
It's SA lack of consistency that's particularly hypocritical. He justifies Draymond's toxic behaviour (especially him knocking out Poole), and he also believes in Embiid (despite his extensive injury history) Basically SA goes after men who won't go after him. It's a cowardly move.
A sensible TH-cam basketball analyst. Refreshing. But guess what - the fact the Kawhi is constantly chosen for All Star Teams means that Stephen A has no impact with reasonable people.
As somebody who hasn't had cable TV in maybe a decade, seeing discourse about Stephen A and Skip Bayless is just like "Oh lord, people are still paying attention to those idiots?" Move on, people. They've been trolling you all this time and you're still biting onto it. You don't need to engage with them.
Heard about you for the first time on the shootaround podcast but you’re quickly becoming one of my favorite content creators in the nba space keep up the good work man 👍
Steven A$$ Smith is doing this to get attention, a reaction and engagement. He wants to instigate a reaction from kawhi and he'll keep doing it because kawhi just ignores him and lives his life. If kawhi has a case then he should hit Stevens pockets for defamation.
To me, it sounds like the guy just wanted to have a bone to pick with someone for reasons of content. It's also why some people gravitated from that sorts of sports media. Much as I find shit-stirring a tad amusing, I cannot imagine myself going through that sort of disparaging barrage for long. Even more so over someone who's not even at fault.
I desperately wish JJ would have known Stephen As history like you so he could have put him in his place. “So were you soft because you stopped playing due to a knee injury?”
I'm not jumping on a hate bandwagon here bc I'm a Dallas Cowboy's fan, and he rips into my team every chance he gets so my hate for SAS goes back for years. I didn't even know he had a injury like that and he even wrote about in his book, all that does for me is gives me more fuel to hate this man. He doesn't like being called out on bs we all know that, he's a Knick fan so now that they are semi rolling all the segments are about he's NY knicks, he just doesn't ever gel with me at all and even when I try and like him he says some off the wall bs. This Lenard thing is just weird too. I know I'm going on a rant here but I had to just get it off my chest
At some point we need to go thru a detailed analysis of his "harsh criticism" towards black athletes , Kawhi, Zion, Kaepernick While he get on all fours for guys like Aaron Rodgers
The "hot take" style pundents have over stayed their welcome. Not just in sports journalism but journalism period (including Internet based journalism/commentary content creators). It's so easy to just spout your gut reaction. And even if you have years of experience in your respective industry you're still prone to just being obtuse or just wrong. Like people who do this are just egotistical jerks who recognized that being an even bigger jerk gets views or reactions. Eventually you become a parody of yourself like SAS or Skip Bayless. By that time you at best are just regurgitating the same jokes or takes, and at worst you form a some weird vendetta over shit that doesn't affect you.
It's an initiation process but Kawhi isn't taking the bait Every time Stephen A Smith does this to other athletes, they all run defending themselves and also going on his show You see he mocked PG at one point who decided to invite him on his podcast P. KD, Kyrie all responded. Kawhi has already responded by saying, those guys are just doing their jobs trying to feed their families.. He was asked about Stephen A smith and he didnt know who he was.
SAS take on Kawhi is garbage because he’s trying to be overzealous. If I was a Clippers fan I would be kinda pissed. A new rule is introduced and Kawhi plays 65+ games. I’m not saying the injuries are his fault but if cannot stay healthy for a good portion of the regular season and a deep run in the playoffs, then the front office needs to make a tough decision. Instead, you’ve lost 50% of the trade that u bet ur franchise on and the other 50% is highly 50/50. Kawhi is getting his bag, had an amazing career and lives in the city he wants to be in. Clippers curse is still alive and going to create another bum era when this team rebuilds
It all goes back to him just being an asshole and never once being put in the shoes of these players. And nobody at that network bothers to check him(other than maybe JJ? thats done now) so he will never be challenged on any of this. The guy doesnt actually care for sports anymore. It's who can he latch on to and how much negativity can get traction
Your point about SAS also dealing with career ending injuries actually makes it more understandable why he’s so disgusted with kawhi rather than empathetic
Injury shaming is just so perverse, I don't get why sports commentary needs to be so vitriolic/stoop so low But I actually do because they just wanna pump out garbage content for attention.. It's so lame but ESPN could just pivot in a better way so easily if they tried
I stopped watching Stephen a smith in 2013 and have not missed a single bit of news. I don’t know why you guys give him your attention, he does nothing besides share his opinion.
Stephen A used to be a reputable journalist but every year that goes by he becomes more & more of a flanderized caricature of himself. I really appreciate your insight from your time at ESPN that you bring to these videos & your own unique commentary & perspective
Kawhi gets hurt all the time but comes back the same, they’re a lot of players that got hurt and are not the same. Give the guy credit, he has multiple surgeries and yet comes back elite.
Good video Kofie. I can't help but wonder if some of Stephen's behavior is just plan bitterness that Kawhi is a pro and remaining relevant in the league despite the injury....Stephen couldn't even make it.
I really think Kawhi's career is such a interesting case of what if and yet he still got a case as an all timer two way playoff performer. It is just sad to see injuries robbing us of what Kawhi could have been... he still got two DPOYs and two Finals MVPs of all that and we still can very well argue that he is the biggest what if. Not saying he would have been the goat but man I really think we could have had a top 10ish all time talent right before our eyes
Kawhi is weird one. Because he never came in the league as a super star. That is why the whole Worst Super Star is weird to me. Kawhi is just an elite super role player.
As a fan of the Brewers, Yelich's injury/injuries are far less of a known quantity as compared to the Kawhi situation yet every fan that I know never expresses anger towards him for the situation. At most just frustration with the offense in his absence or sadness that we don't get to watch him at his best or at all. In short, I can't fathom the anger that Steve-A caricature-izes and I think it comes from the terminally online place of the sports media bubble. Stephen A and people like him need to breathe some fresh air instead of their own CO2.
Here’s where I think the crux of the issue lies, Kawhi wants to be paid like a top 1% player, but due to his injuries he’s just not available, and you can’t spend top 1% money on someone with his history.
I like this man’s content. To my ear, it seems like he spent so much time setting up. And not much time on the actual body of his argument . “Heavy at the top small on the bottom”
3:39 earned my respect!!!! Ben my family so im bias but thx for being fair 14:12 and was a FA after winning!!!!! No one talked about his value !!!!!!! A free agent champion!!!! He shouldve been biggest FA of that time 16:14 he sued spurs doc bc he went to his own dr!!!!!
Halfway through the video, so not sure if you bring it up but also the time when stephen a tried "exposing" leonard foe what he asked for his terms when going to the clippers
Stephen A Smith should never tell an athlete that they should retire. I guarantee SAS won't retire long after he's outlived any usefulness he's ever had, especially if there's money in it. Some empathy would go a long way here.
It definitely would but I also the point of his criticism if Kawhi knees are that big of liability he shouldn't be playing. I know from a business standpoint point that's insane. But look at his career since his been in LA It has been awful and that's with him putting his health first the clippers are a dead zone of basketball
When I say putting his health first I mean his mandatory days off intentionally missing chunks of the season and I'm sure that WCF was worth losing SGA and their current state of affairs@CatchThaGame
@@tman1782 if Kawhi doesn’t take those days off he’s probably down for an even longer stint of time. Missing 1-2 games is the trade off for his career to be extended and keep their window open longer. I get it your hindsight is perfect but the Clippers needed to maximize their window w Leonard, so they moved for a guy who just finished 2nd in MVP…. I know horrible choices
SAS is 🗑️ but I mean the Clippers org, NBA community, and even Paul George kept on hyping the team saying they are super good on paper and they were favorites to win the finals for years. Then when they lost, the clippers just blamed all of their failures bc injuries. If they just admitted that injuries are big factors in determining if a team was good then i dont think Kawhi would be thrown under bus as much.
I’d rather have Embiid than Kawhi they both injured or suck every April. At least with Embiid he promotes himself and the team connects with the Phili fans it’s night and day Kawhi does literal bare minimum
We dehumanize athletes a lot. We don't think about how injuries affect their lifes long after playing. I will never criticize a player if they're hurt when I definitely wouldn't be playing through it. But because athletes make millions we want them to risk their lifes even more than they already do.
Too many players are more injured and unavailable nowadays than before because they’re not working on their bodies and practicing less. Let’s be fair about that one.
I think SAS is implying that he KL wants to only play at a 100% . Being that SAS has been in locker rooms before. He does have sources. I’m sure Kofie , he’s not rubbing his hands together with an evil grin saying how can I make KL look bad. Sure SAS is a showmen but he is fair nonetheless. There’s nothing wrong to hold people accountable especially when you’re getting paid millions of dollars and fans want to watch him.
That’s not what Steven A is implying that. What in any of these comments would lead you to think that’s what he was implying? A lot of people have been in locker rooms, that’s not what affords you sources and in this instance it led to Steven A’s loss of sources. He isn’t trashing KL for anything other than his lead role as a mouth piece for ownership. If they have ill feelings who is the voice of those ill feelings? Steven A Smith. And they use him because he’s a showman. Not because he’s fair. Is this holding people accountable? Is that what he’s doing? And why would the levels of wrong be amplified by the amount of money someone makes? Or moreover folks want to watch him?
In my non scientific opinion but just from observing injuries and medical knowledge go up at the same time I think we have load management wrong. I personally don’t like kawhi anymore because of his legacy for being the first to load manage but sas is absolutely the wrong messenger from the hypocrisy, to the delivery, to the sheer hate in his voice. Knowing that he says that shit makes me like kawhi a little more
if zaza didnt injure kawhi and start his injury bug, wed be talking about this dude as a top 15 player all time minimum. probably top 10. him at his best is better than kobe and kd
It’s important to note that Steven A has long since lost all relationships with players in the NBA. Since his return to ESPN his sources have been directly the team’s governors. This is why when the Nets weren’t too angry with Kyrie, Steven A was there to report the anger from ownership. When KD was leaving OKC and Steven reported KD would take a meeting with the Lakers in spite of KD not talking to anyone (side note; the Lakers didn’t have a meeting with KD and this was an attempt to secure a meeting). His venom for Kawhi comes from San Antonio ownership. “This is what happens you get shipped off to another country”, does this not seem like a direct line from spurs ownership? There’s a reason for that. He’s a tool and has been a tool since his return to ESPN.
I'll never understand why D Rose is treated as a victim of bad luck and injuries and Kawhi is treated as the bad guy because he gets injured. Both situations are bad luck and involve things out of their control, but they are viewed completely differently.
I think because Derek was so outwardly emotional about it. Kawhi is reserved.
He making like $50 mil a year 🤷🏾♂️
At the time, D Rose was PYLORIZED for sitting out like nearly 2 years because he had the audacity to say that he still wanted to be able to walk after playing basketball.
The media dictates how ppl thinks look at it
I also think that part of the problem is that Kawhi still looks elite when he plays. He's still out there averaging 20ppg on high efficiency (almost 50/40/90). So I think he gets more flack because he doesn't "look hurt" when he's on the court. But I think that just shows how good he is to still be giving the league buckets while dealing with a chronic injury.
Stephen A: I’m sick of Kawhi. Kawhi just wants to go Los Angeles.
Also Stephen A: Please be good Lakers. I don’t want to go to Denver.
So disrespectful to the fan bases that he cries about not being in la or miami
As a kid from San Antonio I think his tenure there shaped a lot of narratives for him going forward. He wasn't an advocate for himself in the media. So when he started not agreeing with the medical staff on if he was healthy, guys like Tony and Manu were in the media basically saying he could play if he wanted to. Ever since then he's been seen as a nonchalant athlete who doesn't care.
bruh that "he does nothing to market your brand" is such a braindead argument. like NBA teams need the players to do marketing now? seriously? they aren't already successful enough?
I wonder if that's the root of SAS's dislike. For a guy who's fairly brilliantly turned bombast into entertainment for a career, maybe a player as low key and reserved as Kawhi offends him in some existential way.
Yes because the players marketing the game makes them more money and literally helps the entire ecosystem of the sport works. The NBA just signed a 70 Billion dollar rights contract if they weren’t able to secure it then literally thousands of people would lose their jobs. There’s at minimum 360 full time players, hundreds of coaches, and thousands of workers in front office and around the stadiums. COVID cost a lot of money that they are trying to get back it’s why there was basically two seasons in one calendar year. A player of Kawhi’s level is an important part of the ecosystem including to the Fans emotionally. Kofi is making money off this just like SAS so in a way he’s media too.
@@kodeybakerThe way you make it seem, its like Kawhi is Kofie’s slave. Stfu man lmfao. The NBA has been JUST FINE this entire time with the marketing they do have (with Kawhi not even playing mind you), and so has sports media. Why the hell do you think sports media is awful now and feels like they don’t need to switch it up. Kawhi being reserved does NOTHING to these people’s bottom lines besides the Clippers and Clippers only. You sound ridiculous.
I broke my leg wrestling and the mental CANYON it put me in took me years to dig out and feel good about myself. We need to give these dudes respect of their mental too
3:15 That's a very important point that I've noticed in sports discussion about injuries people treat the shit like its a video game a lot of times where it's like "all right well just rest in your bed until you get up to 100 HP" and not as a real human being having done damage to their body which very likely will result in permanently diminished ability
The media would have people believe the talking heads have more grit n grind than the players
Very self serving
Today's nba players have very little grit n grind and I hate Stephen a and sports debate btw
I don't really blame Kawhi for wanting out of San Antonio after seeing what we've seen. If they were public with some of the stupid stuff they did, I'm sure he went through more than we know with them. I had tendinitis in my knee and it was extremely painful. I couldn't even lie in bed without having ridiculous pain. I remember weight lifting teachers and coaches downplaying my injury and it got me upset. I would give it my all on the field and court and my patella literally felt like it was going to rip in half.
SAS said Kawhi needs to retire, as if the guy isn’t trying to get back on the court. Not to mention what player markets the brand? Players market themselves but if kawhi doesn’t want to do that what’s the issue!?
Hot take - playing through an injury is always a bad thing and nobody should do it
not even a hot take just common sense
as an old head, it used to be a point of pride that you were tough and played through injury and they'll point to guys who did that and were fine. Of course, as always nostalgia has us remember those few who did it and were great but ignored the dozens and dozens of players who did just that and things didn't work out great. Guys like Derek Smith, Andrew Toney, Harold Miner, and so many others who just never got better. Larry Bird had his career basically cut short and yet to this day too many people ignore the reality, like you said, playing through an injury is a bad thing. Maybe one game in the Finals or a game 7, MAYBE in a very specific situation such as that but beyond that, players are best off just getting healthy.
@@jamesmarshall6619literally watched Isaiah Thomas (modern day one) play through an injury in the playoffs and tanked his career, just to be traded the same off season and his first season back, his highlight reel is Shannon Sharpe tearing him a new one on national television.
@@thewriter8762his namesake twin, the OG Isiah Thomas is another example. Played on a busted ankle, and his career regressed afterwards. He could’ve played 3-4 more years had he had time to rest. And while it’s understandable in some cases like Isiah’s and Isaiah’s, it’s still a terrible idea to play through an injury
NBA fans that feel genuine resentment for Kawhi, I feel are displacing their feelings for Kawhi and the load management argument. I mean I had a pretty deep convo with someone that isn’t a fan of sports on how athletes are seen as products more than actual people. Fans are too parasocial and put the pride of a team’s success over the idea of people wanting to not see people deal with Chronic injuries. It’s the entitled belief of “I paid a ticket to see X player” rather than saying “I paid tickets to see X team play” like the ticket advertised. This leads to the frustration of people believing that “if I had to go to work no matter what, these millionaires should” when they know damn well they won’t show up to a physically demanding job with a broken bone or a torn ligament and smile and keep working. SAS is the example of fans that wanna blame people who want to take care of themselves and have the means to, and would rather have these people treat athletes like the commodities rather than people.
You're spot on about the idea of people seeing injury prone as being seen as "soft"
It's honestly been a blessing in disguise that SAS and ESPN is as bad as they are. If we still had the good old ESPN, I wouldn't bother coming to TH-cam to find different podcasts, Sports channels. Like it's sooo many good outlets out here that speak on sports in a very informative way without letting their personal feelings on something get in the way. If you're still watching ESPN in 2024, that's a choice.
Man.... The way Kawhi gets talked about in the media just really doesnt sit right with and its not even about Kawhi himself for me. Like just imagine being a dude who has stayed out the way most of your career then all of a sudden you get this bad run of injuries, now you getting painted in a bad light for something completly out of your control...
They call SAS Iago because he’s a shrill parrot created and owned by Disney.
Thought this said “San Antonio Spurs” for a second and not Stephen A. Smith lol
They called the parrot Iago because of Othello.
Iago is one of the best villains in history.
He wasn’t created by Disney lmao he been on tv for years before espn worked for Disney
I think all of this is just some weird form of projection by SAS. Like it feels like he's mad at himself for getting injured and dumping it on Kiwiai
I was thinking exactly this. It has to be projection with a tiny sprinkle of the 2019 finals and his love for Kevin Durant and how defensive he is when people put him and Kawhi in the same sentence
@KofiieWhyy can't believe he has his own spam bots
😅 stop
SAS is garbage. The journalism world would be better without him
I actually think differently. I wouldn’t have noticed how bad sports media can get if I didn’t have SAS as the standard of garbage. He’s the measuring stick.
🧢
Man him n skip have made it horrible
Everyone is fed up with his messy ass
@@KimaniAjamu i am living for SAS's sole positive contribution to culture being a wake up call for how degraded things have become in the public informaton ecosystem.
sports fans hate to hear this lol but a lot of this goes back to toxic masculinity
Bingo!!
Very very true
Yeah
Toxic masculinity win championships. Bragging about high school accomplishments is gay but that’s how I won 3 state titles in 4 years
Real talk most issues in sports boil down to it. But we don’t wanna discuss that because…..gay. Pretty crazy
Could you also talk about how the sports media treats AD or injury prone players in general?
People see injuries like it's in a videogame, just a message that pops up and you can't use a player for a couple of in game weeks, instead of it actually being a real thing with a real person suffering immense pain, going through multiple real surgeries
You mean Smith sees injuries like that. Yet one more reason why intelligent people don’t care for him.
I never got blaming players for being for hurt what every nba player wants to be healthy
Sports debates and discourse are so flawed due to the chronically online world fans and the media live in now.
Stephen A makes sense if you keep in mind that he's a capitalist & a republican. He is for the boss, the system, the establishment. If you look at the athletes he's taken issue with on a near-personal level over the years- Colin Kaepernick, Kyrie, KD, Kawhi, etc. they all go against the establishment/system in some way shape or form. For Kawhi, it's mostly likely the way he moves with his uncle and the fact that he doesn't speak which means he's not marketing the league & by extension not giving Stephen A more things to talk about. It's also not an accident that he saves this level of venom for Black players.
Nailed it. Steven A Smith is a mouthpiece for ownership and has been since he got back to ESPN. He was let go because the players lost respect for him and REFUSED to engage with him. He was brought back to ESPN with all of a sudden new sources. And every single thing he has said since has been the direct opinion of ownership. Every person you named had the ire of ownership and as such Steve A has been their attack dog. A tool.
i wish stephen A would just stop talking about sports. he doesn't have an interesting perspective, he doesn't bring new insight, he just yells and is generally a funny guy. i'd listen to him give his opinion on pokemon for an hour, but i cannot stand to listen to him talk about sports for 5 minutes
Have you seen his opinion about his TF2 starting five for the NBA? Shit is hilarious, and he doesn’t know anything about it. Dude is better outside of his regular medium and it’s tragic
@@valentinwanderkauven7377it’s like the lightning McQueen convo, absolutely hilarious
@@valentinwanderkauven7377 his video about whether or not Mewtwo could beat LeBron in a 1v1 is amazing
This goes also to Westbrook discourse. The media has been targetting him so much for the majority of his career to the point of fans creating revisionist history and acting like hes the worst basketball player to ever live while acting like he has been dealing with injuries for the last 5-6 years
SAS sure knows a lot about a guy who doesn’t do many interviews, doesn’t have a social media presence and is never out there in the world like that.
How do guys like Joel Embiid or Anthony Davis promote the league? SAS never gave us fans an example of what it is to promote the NBA because I don’t see any examples of other superstars promoting the league intentionally
1. If SAS saw Kawhi NOT play for team USA, he'd criticize him for being soft or having no heart anyway
2. SAS on this Kawhi hate parade reminds me of Skip Bayless' last act at ESPN, constantly hating on LeBron and the Heat (Bosh Spice, etc.)
I’ve always hated how people used Kawhi as the face for criticizing load management rather than mourning that we’ll never see his full potential because of injuries. It’s tragic to think that one of the best ever could’ve been even better if he stayed healthy but we’ll never get to see that. I hope in a couple years we all realize how bad these load management rules are and address the real problem that is the NBA schedule and season length.
The problem isn't the season length, it's that Anthony Edwards played 4x as many AAU games as Kobe and Mike did, so the damage is getting done when these players are young, and players used to play multiple sports, not just one, and it's actually better for you to play multiple sports as you work out different muscle groups.
@@reddabos that’s true I think both are right. AAU is all about games now they hardly practice/train anymore. That has to take a toll on the body
This channel is amazing. Love sbn but god do i love your stuff man
Kinda unrelated but funny to me how Harden is almost an inverse “what if?” scenario to Kawhi. Kawhi has the team accolades, but his individual success never reached what we imagined. And Harden has all the individual accolades, but was on a load of teams we wish would’ve done better
Stephan A acts as if Kawhi doesn’t have a degenerative quad in addition to the knee issues. Stephan A either needs content or lost money betting on the Kawhi Leonard Clippers
Stephen A. Smith is unserious and it's best to treat him as such
It's SA lack of consistency that's particularly hypocritical. He justifies Draymond's toxic behaviour (especially him knocking out Poole), and he also believes in Embiid (despite his extensive injury history)
Basically SA goes after men who won't go after him. It's a cowardly move.
SAS is just jealous because kawhi has gone farther than he was able to with similar injury profile.
Watching this on my commute to work. Bless up Kofie 🙏
The amount of cognitive dissonance required for SAS to talk about Kawhi the way he does is crazy 💀
SAS to me is a messy ass ninja
A sensible TH-cam basketball analyst. Refreshing. But guess what - the fact the Kawhi is constantly chosen for All Star Teams means that Stephen A has no impact with reasonable people.
Smith’s injury? The one that left him with a six inch screw in his knee? In the season where he averaged 1 ½ points in one game?
As somebody who hasn't had cable TV in maybe a decade, seeing discourse about Stephen A and Skip Bayless is just like "Oh lord, people are still paying attention to those idiots?" Move on, people. They've been trolling you all this time and you're still biting onto it. You don't need to engage with them.
Heard about you for the first time on the shootaround podcast but you’re quickly becoming one of my favorite content creators in the nba space keep up the good work man 👍
thank you!
Steven A$$ Smith is doing this to get attention, a reaction and engagement. He wants to instigate a reaction from kawhi and he'll keep doing it because kawhi just ignores him and lives his life. If kawhi has a case then he should hit Stevens pockets for defamation.
Again, I will say, Tony Parker is one of the best to ever do it, but if he weren't in San Antonio he'd be disliked way way more
To me, it sounds like the guy just wanted to have a bone to pick with someone for reasons of content. It's also why some people gravitated from that sorts of sports media.
Much as I find shit-stirring a tad amusing, I cannot imagine myself going through that sort of disparaging barrage for long. Even more so over someone who's not even at fault.
I desperately wish JJ would have known Stephen As history like you so he could have put him in his place. “So were you soft because you stopped playing due to a knee injury?”
I'm not jumping on a hate bandwagon here bc I'm a Dallas Cowboy's fan, and he rips into my team every chance he gets so my hate for SAS goes back for years. I didn't even know he had a injury like that and he even wrote about in his book, all that does for me is gives me more fuel to hate this man. He doesn't like being called out on bs we all know that, he's a Knick fan so now that they are semi rolling all the segments are about he's NY knicks, he just doesn't ever gel with me at all and even when I try and like him he says some off the wall bs. This Lenard thing is just weird too. I know I'm going on a rant here but I had to just get it off my chest
At some point we need to go thru a detailed analysis of his "harsh criticism" towards black athletes , Kawhi, Zion, Kaepernick
While he get on all fours for guys like Aaron Rodgers
Jerry Jones. Enough said.
16:29 why do we care about anybody’s opinion except the guy who the leg is attached to? I ain’t figured that part out yet.
Im glad you made this video. My opinion on KL had really soured over the past frw years. Puts things into perspective.
Good sttuf as always Kofie!
So a black man isn't allowed to HEAL his body when INJURED????☀️
We need more Kofie’s in the world
Im so done with SAS and Skip type "journalism". They are part of the reason News has become worse.
love your art and journalism. Thank you for your work Kofie
Stephen A. is angry that Kawhi is continuing his basketball career at a high level where he could not with a similar injury
The six inch screw in his knee? 💀
@KofiieWhyy bro you fr scamming pretending to be him?
The "hot take" style pundents have over stayed their welcome. Not just in sports journalism but journalism period (including Internet based journalism/commentary content creators).
It's so easy to just spout your gut reaction. And even if you have years of experience in your respective industry you're still prone to just being obtuse or just wrong. Like people who do this are just egotistical jerks who recognized that being an even bigger jerk gets views or reactions. Eventually you become a parody of yourself like SAS or Skip Bayless. By that time you at best are just regurgitating the same jokes or takes, and at worst you form a some weird vendetta over shit that doesn't affect you.
It's an initiation process but Kawhi isn't taking the bait
Every time Stephen A Smith does this to other athletes, they all run defending themselves and also going on his show
You see he mocked PG at one point who decided to invite him on his podcast P.
KD, Kyrie all responded.
Kawhi has already responded by saying, those guys are just doing their jobs trying to feed their families..
He was asked about Stephen A smith and he didnt know who he was.
No doubt, greatest rental in history. His 2019 run was GOATED!
Man if kawhi leonard never got injured in 2021 he would of have won his third ring and finals mvp that dude was going crazy underrated season
It’s so wild that, if you look closely, you can see Stephen A is slowly turning INTO Skip BAYLESS 👀
He's always been another type of skip
@@AKWuzHereI’m saying he’s becoming the same kind of Skip lol. He’s makin it personal, and that’s a bad look
@@LogicOverEverything it's always been personal look at the Kyrie situation n anybody who got beef with Knicks
@@AKWuzHere yeah that Kyrie stuff was a lot, I’ll agree. The turn has been in effect for a bit, bruh
@KofieWhyy 👍🏿
19:01 "what are you scared of?” how about not touching that court ever again if he fucks his legs up too much.
@KofieWhyy whoa! Didn't even know there was one haha 😂 thanks Kofie!
@KofieWhyy bruh go try and copy Mr beast or something why you going after the small creators 😂😂😂
SAS take on Kawhi is garbage because he’s trying to be overzealous.
If I was a Clippers fan I would be kinda pissed. A new rule is introduced and Kawhi plays 65+ games. I’m not saying the injuries are his fault but if cannot stay healthy for a good portion of the regular season and a deep run in the playoffs, then the front office needs to make a tough decision. Instead, you’ve lost 50% of the trade that u bet ur franchise on and the other 50% is highly 50/50. Kawhi is getting his bag, had an amazing career and lives in the city he wants to be in. Clippers curse is still alive and going to create another bum era when this team rebuilds
He is making superstar money with little to none playoff sucess
It all goes back to him just being an asshole and never once being put in the shoes of these players. And nobody at that network bothers to check him(other than maybe JJ? thats done now) so he will never be challenged on any of this. The guy doesnt actually care for sports anymore. It's who can he latch on to and how much negativity can get traction
Your point about SAS also dealing with career ending injuries actually makes it more understandable why he’s so disgusted with kawhi rather than empathetic
Injury shaming is just so perverse, I don't get why sports commentary needs to be so vitriolic/stoop so low
But I actually do because they just wanna pump out garbage content for attention.. It's so lame but ESPN could just pivot in a better way so easily if they tried
I stopped watching Stephen a smith in 2013 and have not missed a single bit of news. I don’t know why you guys give him your attention, he does nothing besides share his opinion.
Stephen A used to be a reputable journalist but every year that goes by he becomes more & more of a flanderized caricature of himself. I really appreciate your insight from your time at ESPN that you bring to these videos & your own unique commentary & perspective
Kawhi gets hurt all the time but comes back the same, they’re a lot of players that got hurt and are not the same. Give the guy credit, he has multiple surgeries and yet comes back elite.
Good video Kofie. I can't help but wonder if some of Stephen's behavior is just plan bitterness that Kawhi is a pro and remaining relevant in the league despite the injury....Stephen couldn't even make it.
I really think Kawhi's career is such a interesting case of what if and yet he still got a case as an all timer two way playoff performer. It is just sad to see injuries robbing us of what Kawhi could have been... he still got two DPOYs and two Finals MVPs of all that and we still can very well argue that he is the biggest what if. Not saying he would have been the goat but man I really think we could have had a top 10ish all time talent right before our eyes
Kawhi is weird one. Because he never came in the league as a super star. That is why the whole Worst Super Star is weird to me. Kawhi is just an elite super role player.
hi kofie havent watched the full vid yet but i love your videos! have a good day!!
As a fan of the Brewers, Yelich's injury/injuries are far less of a known quantity as compared to the Kawhi situation yet every fan that I know never expresses anger towards him for the situation. At most just frustration with the offense in his absence or sadness that we don't get to watch him at his best or at all. In short, I can't fathom the anger that Steve-A caricature-izes and I think it comes from the terminally online place of the sports media bubble. Stephen A and people like him need to breathe some fresh air instead of their own CO2.
Here’s where I think the crux of the issue lies, Kawhi wants to be paid like a top 1% player, but due to his injuries he’s just not available, and you can’t spend top 1% money on someone with his history.
Great work on this.
Stephen A found his Troy Aikman
19:40 stephen A was spittin bars on the background music tho
I like this man’s content.
To my ear, it seems like he spent so much time setting up. And not much time on the actual body of his argument .
“Heavy at the top small on the bottom”
3:39 earned my respect!!!! Ben my family so im bias but thx for being fair 14:12 and was a FA after winning!!!!! No one talked about his value !!!!!!! A free agent champion!!!! He shouldve been biggest FA of that time
16:14 he sued spurs doc bc he went to his own dr!!!!!
Damn sweet haircut brother
Most Kawhi critic that they point out aren't related to basketball skill or on court. Its usually stuff beyond his control.
Halfway through the video, so not sure if you bring it up but also the time when stephen a tried "exposing" leonard foe what he asked for his terms when going to the clippers
And how would he get that information? From Ownership to Stevens mouth.
Could’ve left the title at “weird.”
@KofieWhyy You made this page 6 minutes ago and already have 30 spam comments. Whatever loser is running this account, get a job
T.O was right abt S.A.S
I think most of the negative discourse about Kawhi is the game management stuff and the disastrous run that he and PG had with the clippers.
Stephen A Smith should never tell an athlete that they should retire. I guarantee SAS won't retire long after he's outlived any usefulness he's ever had, especially if there's money in it. Some empathy would go a long way here.
It definitely would but I also the point of his criticism if Kawhi knees are that big of liability he shouldn't be playing. I know from a business standpoint point that's insane. But look at his career since his been in LA It has been awful and that's with him putting his health first the clippers are a dead zone of basketball
When I say putting his health first I mean his mandatory days off intentionally missing chunks of the season and I'm sure that WCF was worth losing SGA and their current state of affairs@CatchThaGame
@@tman1782 if Kawhi doesn’t take those days off he’s probably down for an even longer stint of time. Missing 1-2 games is the trade off for his career to be extended and keep their window open longer. I get it your hindsight is perfect but the Clippers needed to maximize their window w Leonard, so they moved for a guy who just finished 2nd in MVP…. I know horrible choices
SAS is 🗑️ but I mean the Clippers org, NBA community, and even Paul George kept on hyping the team saying they are super good on paper and they were favorites to win the finals for years. Then when they lost, the clippers just blamed all of their failures bc injuries. If they just admitted that injuries are big factors in determining if a team was good then i dont think Kawhi would be thrown under bus as much.
I’d rather have Embiid than Kawhi they both injured or suck every April. At least with Embiid he promotes himself and the team connects with the Phili fans it’s night and day Kawhi does literal bare minimum
Kawhi is an all timer playoff performer man give me one game for my life I am still taking Kawhi
Embiid over Kahwi? Two words "THE SHOT"
Does this video have to be 27min? It’s just over my threshold
my goat fr
We dehumanize athletes a lot. We don't think about how injuries affect their lifes long after playing. I will never criticize a player if they're hurt when I definitely wouldn't be playing through it. But because athletes make millions we want them to risk their lifes even more than they already do.
5:30
The car missing
I'm all about the athlete prevention.
Kawhi is beyond overrated. I ain't got a lotta sympathy for athletes gettin' paid to not be on the court.
Too many players are more injured and unavailable nowadays than before because they’re not working on their bodies and practicing less. Let’s be fair about that one.
What proof is there that they don’t practice or take care of their bodies?
@@princejellyfish3945 watch playing like AD aka glass man who doesn’t work on his body in the summer
What do you think of SAS’s critique that Kawhi doesn’t really use his profile to grow/promote the game?
I think SAS is implying that he KL wants to only play at a 100% . Being that SAS has been in locker rooms before. He does have sources. I’m sure Kofie , he’s not rubbing his hands together with an evil grin saying how can I make KL look bad. Sure SAS is a showmen but he is fair nonetheless. There’s nothing wrong to hold people accountable especially when you’re getting paid millions of dollars and fans want to watch him.
That’s not what Steven A is implying that. What in any of these comments would lead you to think that’s what he was implying? A lot of people have been in locker rooms, that’s not what affords you sources and in this instance it led to Steven A’s loss of sources. He isn’t trashing KL for anything other than his lead role as a mouth piece for ownership. If they have ill feelings who is the voice of those ill feelings? Steven A Smith. And they use him because he’s a showman. Not because he’s fair. Is this holding people accountable? Is that what he’s doing? And why would the levels of wrong be amplified by the amount of money someone makes? Or moreover folks want to watch him?
In my non scientific opinion but just from observing injuries and medical knowledge go up at the same time I think we have load management wrong. I personally don’t like kawhi anymore because of his legacy for being the first to load manage but sas is absolutely the wrong messenger from the hypocrisy, to the delivery, to the sheer hate in his voice. Knowing that he says that shit makes me like kawhi a little more
kof the host with the most
Basketball is sports and sports is entertainment. The guy is not entertaining and doesn’t even try to be.
SAS is trash. But to stick up for anything Kawhi is also wild. Just not as wild. 😂
if zaza didnt injure kawhi and start his injury bug, wed be talking about this dude as a top 15 player all time minimum. probably top 10. him at his best is better than kobe and kd
Stephen A has been hating on Kawhi ever since he hasn’t given him that interview
It’s important to note that Steven A has long since lost all relationships with players in the NBA. Since his return to ESPN his sources have been directly the team’s governors. This is why when the Nets weren’t too angry with Kyrie, Steven A was there to report the anger from ownership. When KD was leaving OKC and Steven reported KD would take a meeting with the Lakers in spite of KD not talking to anyone (side note; the Lakers didn’t have a meeting with KD and this was an attempt to secure a meeting). His venom for Kawhi comes from San Antonio ownership. “This is what happens you get shipped off to another country”, does this not seem like a direct line from spurs ownership? There’s a reason for that. He’s a tool and has been a tool since his return to ESPN.