Not Only Has Russell Westbrook Fired Back at Stephen A. Smith but His Wife Has Gotten Involved as Well
In not-so-shocking news, ESPNās Stephen A. Smith made some comments this week that some saw as controversial. The First Take host targeted Russell Westbrook in his latest rant as the former NBA MVP put up a historic triple-double for the Washington Wizards on Monday night in a victory over the Indiana Pacers.
Now, personally, I rarely ever care what Stephen A. Smith has to say about anything and that includes what he said about Russell Westbrook. But seeing as how Westbrookās wife actually jumped into this little war of words between her husband and Smith, it was hard not to take notice.
Russell Westbrook put up a historic triple-double on Monday night
Before we get into exactly what Stephen A. Smith said about Russell Westbrook and how the nine-time NBA All-Star and his wife responded, letās first take a quick look at the historic triple-double he put up on Monday night.
For those who missed it, Westbrook posted 35 points on 14-for-26 shooting in the Wizardsā 132-124 win over the Pacers on Monday night and also added 21 assists (three short of the career-high 24 he recorded in 2019 against the Spurs) and 14 rebounds.
Never before had any player in NBA history recorded a triple-double with at least 35 points and 20 assists but none of that mattered to Stephen A. Smith when he spoke about it the following morning.
Stephen A. Smith says the former MVPās numbers mean āabsolutely nothingā
On Tuesday morningās episode of First Take, Stephen A. Smith gave his thoughts on Russell Westbrookās historic triple-double and while he did give props to the 2017 NBA MVP, calling him the most athletic point guard in NBA history, he also said that Westbrookās accomplishment on Monday night meant āabsolutely nothingā to him.
Smith stated that he already knows that Westbrook can put up numbers but knocked him for not having more overall success during his career. You can watch the full segment above but hereās a little bit of what he had to say.
āYouāve played with some great, great players over the years, some talent. And not a single title to show for it.
āThe numbers are the numbers. Thatās Russell Westbrook. He can do that to anybody. But Iām at a point in time in his career where it aināt about that no more. Itās about whether or not you can get to another level to win the chip.ā
Stephen A. Smith on Russell Westbrook
As it always goes, some people werenāt happy with Smithās comments, including Westbrookās wife, Nina, who fired off on him on Tuesday evening with Russell himself following up a short time later.
Both Russell Westbrook and his wife fired back at Stephen A. Smith
Nina Westbrook took to social media on Tuesday night in response to the comments made about her husband by Stephen A. Smith and certainly didnāt hold back, saying that no matter what her husband does, Smith āhas to make sure his accomplishments are diminishedā and also made it perfectly clear that she isnāt a fan of the ESPN host whatsoever. Hereās a look at the rest of the comments she made.
A short time later, Russell Westbrook himself chimed in on the matter with a lengthy response in which he said he was āa champion once I made it to the NBAā while also saying that he will no longer ālet people create narrativesā about him any longer. Hereās his full statement.
Naturally, Stephen A. Smith responded on Wednesday morningās episode of First Take and while he applauded Nina Westbrook for sticking up for her husband but didnāt back down from the comments he made on Russell Westbrook and then went on yet another rant about him.
So thatās where we are now.
Personally, I think Stephen A. Smith is targeting the wrong person when talking about someone with big numbers that has never won a championship but weāll dive into that some other time.
Stats courtesy of Basketball Reference