COME ON MAN! - Windy CAN’T BELIEVE Stephen A. called Kawhi the worst superstar | First Take

show him the money folks LA Clippers coach Ty Lou has signed a new deal through the 2029 season that will make him one of the NBA's highest paid coaches at approximately 14 mil per year sources telling ESPN Lou has gone 184 and 134 in Four Seasons with the clippers but yesterday when talking about the Clipper star player kawhai Leonard Stephen A had a strong take spicy this is the worst Superstar I can make a case this is the worst superstar in the history of sports he makes no effort to promote the game to promote his team to promote the NBA brand zero even do y'all know with his new balance commercials you had little kids speaking cuz he wouldn't talk think about that I got I got commercial that I signed to endorse your product and I won't even speak it's the truth well well the worst superstar in the history of sports the you the worst superstar in the history of sports 2014 2014 NBA Finals he made LeBron James say damn one of the Great Moments of my memory of LeBron's career he's at the foul line kawai's out of the game they he's trying to lead the heat to a comeback he hear you can find it on YouTube it's an alltime clip he hears the buzzer ring he turns over his shoulder and sees Kawai come in the game he says damn I don't know if LeBron can pay him a bigger compliment 2000 he wins the MV Finals MVP 2017 arguably the greatest team in NBA history two MVPs in their primes the Golden State Warriors Kevin Durant Steph Curry Kawai was going to was going was going to pull it off he would the Spurs were ahead in game one he sprains his ankle on Zaza pulia that might have robbed us from an unbelievable upset there because he was coming 2019 he goes into Toronto who's ever won in Toronto they never won anything before he got there never won anything after takes down embiid with a gamewinner at at the buzzer of game seven game winner at the buzzer of game seven go find how many of those exist in the history of the NBA goes down 20 to Giannis uh he comes back leads four straight victories he powered that plays The Warriors in the final was unfortunate that Durant was hurt plays a brilliant win plays an absolutely brilliant Series wins his second Finals MVP that's two finals MVPs absolutely Stephen A he has had injuries absolutely he has been high maintenance and his time in the with the Clippers have been a failure earlier this season he was playing as good a basketball as he's played in his career he was playing brilliantly and that's why he made all NBA because and by the way he met the 65 game threshold he was awesome this year and he got hurt so he is not loquacious I'll give you that he is demanding I'll give you that he has bad knees that is not his fault it is not a perfect situation but the worst superstar in the history of sports Stephen A you've slept on it for a night come on man I think that you know based off of what I said I didn't stutter I meant every word I said and every word that you said respectfully is utterly irrelevant because I specifically stated the worst Superstar meaning I'm acknowledging he's a super Superstar Talent he gets on the basketball court when healthy he's one of the best players on the planet he's an absolute winner in terms of he he he produces he wins championships he's a two-time champion two-time NBA Finals MVP this brother is a Difference Maker one could easily argue if he hadn't landed on zaha Julia's foot in that Series against Golden State they had have had a shot of beating Golden State because of how how fantastic he was they were winning they were beating Golden State that game and going to say that Kevin Durant this brother is something special as a talent that's why I called him a superstar but when I said the worst Superstar I'm thinking about the money you get paid I'm thinking about your availability and I'm thinking about how you conduct yourself knowing you're unavailable this man has missed 46% of his games he has missed 60% of his playoff games he's missed 15 of the last 19 playoff games again legit injuries no fault of his own but he always makes sure to get paid he always makes sure he's well enough you somehow some way conveniently he's well enough to get that contract sign and then all of a sudden he can't play I used this analogy yesterday I talked about how Paul George and I said this on podcast P sitting right in front of Paul George last year I said Paul you go down we're like a gas like oh my God is this Korea over I mean the injury looked that nasty we hope that you're okay we've seen kawh Leonard drop 38 walk off the court looking absolutely fine next day we hearing he ain't available and oh by the way the coach didn't even know he wasn't available he had shoot around at 10 in the morning it's 4:00 in the afternoon and he get word you can't go in two hours to play a basketball game okay never mind all the perks that he makes sure to soak out of them never mind how he held the Clippers hostage and said you want me okay knowing he didn't really want to go to the Lakers but threatened to go to the Lakers unless they traded the farm to get Paul George with him as his teammate see we forget all of those things you act like this dude just shows up and plays great Wendy but then unfortunately or unluckily gets hurt you don't bring into account how demanding he is for every little nook and cranny perk he can peel from an organiz ation he has yet to repay since he arrived in Los Angeles in the 20192020 season 244 players in the National Basketball Association have been more present on the basketball court than him you know I'm telling the truth there I got my facts 244 players okay they haven't won a playoff series since 2021 does he Market the franchise no does he Market the NBA no no in his own damn commercials he don't speak they got little kids speaking because he can't speak he can take the money though you can take the money though you can wear the sneakers you can take the money but you can't speak in a commercial everybody has to work around him and he's not available more than half the time in the postseason and damn near half the time in the regular season don't get me started with kawh lenett what I'm saying is this when you think about a Superstar you're not just thinking about their onc Court performance you're thinking about marketability you're thinking about somebody who can be the face of the franchise that has people walk into the turnstyles because of them that's the Marquee and exhaust every means and every measure to make sure that he shows up because he knows that's what the fans are looking for Allan obon didn't want to practice that brother wanted to be at the games Michael Jordan was exhausted for an inordinate amount of of of obligations and even Isaiah Thomas praised him and how he showed up in Toronto when they were in expansion franchise because he knew that the people came to see him you know Kobe was like that we know LeBron is like that true Superstars that understand that the more key is them their name their cache and everything that comes with it they embrace it they accept it they want it and that's what it comes down to and let me get a little bit personal I can't shine their shoes never could on my best day okay I'm doing something totally different but working for the worldwide leader Wendy you know it comes with its challenges and its responsibilities they say I'm the face of the franchise what's the first thing I do show up you got to show up bro and I'm not talking about just on TV to do the shows how many times have you come up to me Wendy and damn do you ever sleep you're doing this you're doing this you're doing this you're doing that I mean take a break do I have to tell you what Tony kheis and Mike wilb tell me all the time do I have to tell you what even the late great Stewart Scott used to tell me and John Saunders and know when you are the dude you got to answer the call it's not just about your performance it's about your commitment to uplifting the collective hole that's what winners do and I'm telling you right now when it comes to the the cache the title of being a superstar Kawai Leonard is a nightmare he is a nightmare he is absolutely brilliant and spectacular and great playing but everything else that comes with what a superstar is supposed to come with he is a nightmare an absolute Nightmare and there is no I feel so I can't believe I'm feeling sorry for a billionaire but I feel sorry for Steve but for Superstars is it one siiz fits-all in terms of your approach yeah couldn't you argue when it the fact that these couldn't you argue that the fact that these he gets these perks despite this shows how much of a superstar that he is that Drake this is one of my most amazing Stories Drake offers Kawai to sit in his house and he uses his house to negotiate with Paul George to get him away from the Raptors where Drake's a part owner [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause]

Channel: NBA on ESPN

Views: 160,562

Keywords: first take kawhi leonard, espn first take, first take, kawhi leonard, espn, stephen a smith, stephen a. smith, first take espn, nba on espn, kawhi, first take nba, first take today, stephen a, kawhi leonard clippers, la clippers, nba, nba espn, clippers, stephen a., espn nba, los angeles clippers, stephen a smith kawhi leonard, nba first take, brian windhorst stephen a. smith, first take clippers, first take stephen a. smith, first take stephen a., nba news, brian windhorst

Id: Q1-28VDhQko

Length: 10min 47sec (647 seconds)

Published: Fri May 31 2024