Sometimes a moment is all it takes to steal the spotlight from a whole event. That was the case at the 94th Academy Awards on March 27th, 2022. The Will Smith-Chris Rock incident largely overshadowed the Oscars ceremony, and it was the biggest talking point of the event. Many celebrities have given their take on the incident and recently, a former NBA star spoke about it as well.

John Salley, who was a part of the notorious ‘Bad Boys’ Pistons team, weighed in on the debate in an interview. While he believed that Rock handled the situation well, one incident shouldn’t determine the person Smith is. The four-time NBA champion said, “Chris Rock handled it better than anybody could have handled it“.

“That one smack shouldn’t determine the person he is,” Salley said regarding Smith’s legacy. Having worked with Smith in the Bad Boys film series, Salley knows what kind of person he is. He continued, “It was a moment that I’m sure he wished he could take back”. He still supports Will no matter what, “I’m behind Will“.

After the interviewer asked whether Smith would have done the same thing had it been Dwyane ‘The Rock’ Johnson making the joke instead of Chris Rock, Salley answered that he would have. Although it wouldn’t have ended well for Smith. “The Rock would put the mic down and unbutton his jacket, ” Salley said.

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Salley still couldn’t understand why Smith did what he did. He said, “We don’t know what spirits jumped into Will for that minute and ten seconds.” He again emphasized that Chris Rock handled the situation better than anyone could have handled anything.

NBA stars were left as stunned as the rest of the world

Various NBA stars voiced their opinion on the whole take on Twitter soon after the incident. Stephen Curry, Trae Young, Kevin Love, Miles Bridges, and many more stars were shocked to see it all unfold.

The incident led to various debates and outrage around the world. While Smith apologized to the Academy during his ‘Best Actor’ award acceptance speech, he didn’t mention Rock’s name. However, Smith eventually apologized to Rock through social media.

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It was one of the craziest moments of the year and it will live long in the memory of the people. What are your thoughts on Salley’s view of the whole situation? Let us know in the comments.