Stephen A. Smith and Jay Williams got into a heated exchange on First Take Wednesday, while discussing the recent news that Kyrie Irving would not be able to play or practice with the Brooklyn Nets.
“I’ve been covering the NBA now for almost 25 years,” Smith says. “This is some of the stupidest nonsense I’ve ever seen. Just flat-out stupid.”
After Smith clarified that he’s not calling Irving “stupid,” but that his decisions make him look stupid, Williams responded by saying he agrees that everyone should be vaccinated, but when you “call people stupid,” you run the risk of ostracizing people.
“I’m just telling you how it feels from people, Stephen A. When you start calling people ‘stupid,’ or you start saying that they’re selfish, these things start going all over the internet, that creates a different narrative and people start fighting back against that narrative,” Williams said. “I’m just telling you how it is on the other side, Stephen A. I know you have your thoughts and how you see things…”
Williams has been getting blasted on social media ever since he came out in defense of Irving. It’s gotten so bad that he decided to take to Instagram and respond to it.
“About the last 2 days..
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From people telling me I should kill myself to the ones that thank me for supporting someone still in the process of making his decision. This is my last word on Kyrie Irving.”
“You know the crazy s— people say to me on the internet when they disagree with my opinion? … ‘Go hit a pole. Go die again. Duke’s education…’ All this stuff,” Williams said. “Thank god I went through that experience, because I don’t need other people to justify how I think about myself.”
With over 90% of NBA players having complied with protocol already, Irving is one of a small group of resisters. It hurts him and his team even more since he is not being allowed to play in any games this year unless he gets vaccinated.
As the season creeps closer, the story of Irving’s absence will only continue to inspire arguments and debates as well become a distraction for the team trying to win a championship.
