'He comes off as a damn snob!'
Stephen A. Smith is not impressed with Kyrie Irving.
In case you missed it, Irving last week opted out of Brooklyn Nets media day, instead providing a statement in which he expressed a desire for his words and messages to not be misconstrued. The move caused an uproar among NBA journalists but was unsurprising considering Irving’s anti-media history.
During Tuesday’s “First Take” episode, Smith unloaded on Irving.
“I think (Irving) is immature, I think that he’s occasionally selfish and I think that at this particular moment in time he comes off as a damn snob,” Smith said on ESPN. “He thinks people are beneath him and he’s above it. He looks at the media as being inauthentic — that’s what he thinks about the media.”
Added Smith: “In Kyrie’s world, it’s always us. It’s never him.”
Take a look:
Go off, Steve.
Does Irving deserve criticism for blowing off media day? Yeah, probably. However, and ironically, his refusal to participate in media day likely provided a more interesting story than anything he would’ve said during a virtual press conference.