Throughout this entire NBA season, Stephen A. Smith has been very hard on Kyrie Irving. The main reason for this is the fact that Kyrie did not take the vaccine, and as a result, he wasn't able to be there for his teammates during home games. With Kyrie out of the lineup for much of the season, the Nets quickly fell behind in the Eastern Conference standings, and as it stands, the Nets are now 10th, which means they are the last play-in team.
If the Nets want to make it to the playoffs, they will need to win two play-in games, which isn't going to be an easy task. The East is extremely tight right now, and many teams have shown that they can compete against the Nets, even with Kyrie and Kevin Durant in the lineup at the same time.
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On First Take today, Smith was talking about the Nets with Magic Johnson. That's when Smith blamed Kyrie for the Nets' current predicament. In Smith's eyes, Kyrie put his teammates in a bad spot out of pure selfishness, and now, the entire roster is paying the price.
"You were willing to cost your team the season. [The Nets are] there because of you. ... And I take very big offense to that," Smith said.
Johnson went on to agree with Smith, noting that Kyrie is their point guard, and they need him to be a leader. Of course, if Kyrie helps lead the Nets to a championship, then all of these criticisms go out the window.