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Stephen A. Smith, New York Knicks
Stephen A. Smith has ramped up his war of words with Josh Hart, following the New York Knicks‘ 111-94 loss to the Houston Rockets on Tuesday, March 31.
When speaking on an April 1 edition of ESPN’s First Take, Smith shredded the Knicks for their recent losing streak, while also singling out Hart following their recent back-and-forth in the media.
“Message to Josh Hart, do I need to shut the hell up now?” Smith said. “Does it make sense what I was saying now? You haven’t won a game since you clapped back at me. He’s on a losing streak since he’s talked smack to me. Maybe if y’all prioritized what the hell I was saying and paid attention to the substance of my comments instead of protecting your boys, you’d be winning games against teams better than .500”
The Knicks haven’t defeated a team with a winning record since their March 6 win over the Denver Nuggets. All of New York’s seven-game win streak came against losing teams. As soon as the Knicks began playing higher-quality opponents again, they slipped straight back into the loss column.
Josh Hart Recently Called Smith A “part-time” Fan
Stephen A’s latest shot at the Knicks, and at Hart, comes after the Knicks forward labeled the veteran ESPN analyst as a “part-time Knicks fan.”
“For me, I think Stephen A., as a part-time Knicks fan, needs to shut the hell up,” Hart said, via Newsday’s Steve Popper. “He barely knows guys that are on the team.”
Stephen A didn’t take that comment to heart, although he did respond.
“I don’t need to know you. I don’t need to talk to you. I get paid to talk about you,” Smith said. “They want to ignore the fact that I’ve been covering the NBA for over 30 years.”
Unfortunately for the Knicks, as long as they continue to stutter, Stephen A will have reason to call them out. After all, this is a team that made the Eastern Conference Finals last season. They were supposed to be pushing forward and emerging as genuine championship contenders.
Right now, that doesn’t appear to be the case.
Josh Hard Sends Message To Knicks Teammates
During his postgame news conference following Tuesday’s loss to the Rockets, Hart sent a warning to his teammates.
“We’re not going in the right direction,” Hart said, via Newsday. “We’re not trending upward. So we got to figure it out. Three tough ones. Got another one tomorrow. That’s a must-win for us. And build from there.”
Hart continued.
“We’re obviously struggling right now to win games,” Hart continued. “Struggling to start games off. Struggling to focus on the attention to detail. Struggling to get outside of ourselves and focus on what the betterment of the team is. So tomorrow we have to play with a sense of desperation. A sense of being willing to sacrifice. To win.”
With the regular season winding down, the Knicks have to find an identity, and fast. Otherwise, they could be in for a disappointing end to the season. If that happens, we should expect some roster changes during the summer.
Nevertheless, Knicks fans will be hoping the team can right the ship once the playoffs begin. After all, they have all the necessary talent and experience. Now, it’s just about making everything work together.
Adam Taylor is a basketball reporter covering the Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State Warriors, New York Knicks and Miami Heat for Heavy. He holds bylines for CelticsBlog, USA Today and Yardbarker. Adam also covers the WWE and AEW. He has a bachelor’s degree in creative writing from Open University. More about Adam Taylor
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