Stephen A. Smith made his grand return to First Take today and fans couldn't have been any happier with his appearance. It had been over a month since we had last seen him on the show, and his absence was certainly felt. You can't help but love Smith and his personality, and without him on the show, First Take was simply not the same.
Today's episode was filmed out on the water as Stephen A. sat on a yacht with Molly Qerim and Michael Irvin. Smith's best rant of the day came while talking about none other than Kevin Durant. Smith is not a fan of Durant's trade request, and on today's show, Stephen A. explained exactly what he would do f he were Joe Tsai. Essentially, Durant would not stand for any of this.
Jeff Hahne/Getty Images for Kenny Smith
Per Smith:
"I got Kyrie here because of you. James Harden because of you. DeAndre Jordan, DeAndre Jordan, good brother happy got his $40 million from the Nets when he did, but we know he’s past his prime, but you brought him there too. Steve Nash! No experience. Never even coached high school. Didn’t coach high school. Didn’t coach college. Didn’t coach pros, but you want to him as your head coach. I’m Joe Tsai, I’ve given you every damn thing you want it. You can give me a championship run legitimately with all of y’all on the court together. Y’all only played about 29 games together. I mean, give me a break. I haven’t gotten a return on my investment and then you commit last summer to a 4-year $198 million deal that came on top of the $164 million. Last time I checked, $198 million, $164 million, that’s about $361 million. Okay, that’s what I paid you and all I got to show for it is one playoff victory because you want to bounce? What? Not even one day on the contract, you asked him to be traded because the contract kicks in now. You ain’t going no damn place. You’re gonna stay your (expletive) right here."
At this point, it remains uncertain as to whether or not KD will be traded before the start of the season. If he isn't dealt, there is a good chance he holds out from Nets camp, which would force the Nets to make a deal incredibly fast.
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