SUMMARY
- Kenny Smith received a lot of heat for his comments on the Curry vs. Ionescu shootout.
- He claimed he wanted her to be able to from WNBA range rather than meeting Curry at his comfort zone.
During the 2024 NBA All-Star Weekend, Kenny Smith earned himself a highlight. Even though it has been years since he retired and he wasn’t directly involved in any event, Smith drew attention with a specific comment he made. We are all aware of the incredible three-point shootout between Stephen Curry and Sabrina Ionescu that took place. This was something that had never been done before.
The NBA superstar scored 29 points against the WNBA player’s 26 to reclaim his throne as the greatest shooter ever. Smith felt that it was unfair that Sabrina had to shoot from the NBA three-point line and not the WNBA’s range. He said, “She should have shot it from the women’s line. That would have been a fair contest. I still root for Sabrina… But she should have shot from the three-point line that the women shoot from.” These comments enraged a lot of fans as they deemed Smith as a sexist.
Kenny Smith claimed he advocated for Sabrina Ionescu
It is only fair that someone gets a chance to explain their point of view before the entire world boycotts them from existence. Kenny Smith got his opportunity during an interview with Stephen A. Smith on his show. Smith said, “Most people who know basketball understood what I was talking about. Actually, I was advocating for her more than anything else because basketball is muscle memory. So, he practices from one range, she practices from the other, why is he getting the advantage to shoot at his line.”
“That’s an advantage. It’s not gender [or] genetics. It’s an advantage,” he added. The legendary Inside the NBA host used darts as a way of explaining his comments. He mentioned that darts players usually practice from one spot and master their technique accordingly. However, if they were ever repositioned at random, their accuracy in making a8 bullseye would reduce drastically.
Kenny Smith explains Reggie Miller’s frustration against his comments on the Curry vs. Ionescu shootout
After Kenny Smith made his comments on wanting Sabrina to have an advantage by shooting from WNBA range, Reggie Miller immediately came to Ionescu’s rescue. Miller told Smith not to set boundaries for Sabrina but rather let her take on the challenge and spread her wings. Smith stood firm in his comments after which Miller said, “Well, according to you, you want her just playing with dolls.”
Kenny Smith and Reggie Miller did their best to make the Stephen vs Sabrina showdown brutally awkward and ended it by arguing about playing with dolls for some reason. pic.twitter.com/ylysmUQ4y4
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 18, 2024
While speaking to Stephen A, Kenny added, “When Reggie was joking around about, ‘Oh, she can play with dolls.’ I have daughters. My thought when I first heard that was, ‘What’s wrong with that?’ You should play with dolls, and you can do sports. Most people just don’t check the tape, they want to just check the bait. My history and track record speaks for itself.” Smith understands that his comments could’ve been taken out of context. Multiple individuals across the internet including Joel Embiid trolled Kenny.