“Just for Clicks”: Stephen A. Smith Scrutinized for Not Acknowledging Luka Doncic’s Historical 73-pt Night vs Hawks

Whichever Luka Doncic-skeptics were left had to acknowledge that he’s indeed gifted. Two days ago, the 24-year-old Slovenian superstar scored a massive 73 points against the Atlanta Hawks. That put him in league with basketball legends, Wilt Chamberlain and Kobe Bryant. However, Stephen A. Smith did not feel the necessity to join in on the Doncic bandwagon.

He had discredited the Mavs’ star guard’s outing by saying that the Hawks’ subpar defense played a key role in his career-high night. Of course, Smith received much flak for watering down Doncic. And it seems he will continue to face the music.

Stephen A. gets a wake-up call for downplaying Luka’s historic night

Theo Pinson is known for the Run Your Race podcast more than anything. While not as noisy as Gil’s Arena or as loud as a certain ESPN analyst, Pinson has a charm of his own that keeps his viewers quite interested. And this time, he’s brought a fellow teammate (whom he promises will be present regularly), Justin Jackson, to join in on the discussions. Jackson, an ex-Mavericks himself, takes a dig at Stephen A., while simultaneously calling out the media in general. “My biggest issue with media nowadays is everything that people say and do are just for clicks.”

He further explains his point, saying that players like Dejounte Murray and Trae Young weren’t simply letting Luka get away with shots. Atlanta was playing to win. Murray and Young are some of the best NBA players out there and so to just casually dismiss their efforts, seem a little over the top.

“Why can’t we just appreciate greatness?” Pinson asks rhetorically. While both of them agree that there could have been a few things that could have been different, like, “different matchups” or “different schemes, ” the fact that it was a magnificent feat remains unchanged.

But this isn’t the first time that Stephen A. Smith has snubbed Luka Doncic.

Luka Doncic might have a critic in SAS

Last year, Smith and the First Take host, Shannon Sharpe, got together on Club Shay Shay for a tête-à-tête. Both of them are known for their unfiltered opinions and when the duo got together, the conversation wasn’t lacking in any means. Among the topics discussed was the top young talent in the current NBA.

Read More: “Luka (Doncic) Is Going to Get Better”: Mark Cuban on a Bizarre Question About Wasting Slovenian Magician’s Prime

Of course, the list included LaMelo Ballo, Jayson Tatum, Luka Doncic, Anthony Edwards, and more. And when Sharpe asked Stephen A. to select his top pick from the under-25 NBA talent, he chose Tatum over Doncic. His reason was, “I just look at him. We talk about conditioning. There have been times when we’ve looked at Luka and we’ve said, ‘he ain’t in shape, he’s getting in shape as the season progresses’. We look at Tatum from day one and say, ‘He’s in shape.’ That matters to me.”

Well, shape or no shape, Luka did drop 73 just a few days after Joel Embiid‘s 70-point night. And his resume is a pretty lengthy one for a 24-year-old. So, whether Smith’s arguments hold weight; we leave that to you.

But could Doncic vs SAS be the start of a LeBron James-Skip Bayless saga? Let us know in the comments below!

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