Despite the Celtics coming away with a blowout victory in Game 1 of the NBA Finals over the Dallas Mavericks, much of the narrative around the series pushed by media member following the game actually had more to do with the team dynamic of the Celtics. And on NBA Countdown before Game 2, ESPN NBA analyst Bob Myers seemed to hint at Stephen A. Smith as one of the culprits of this.
This isn’t a new narrative around the Celtics. Despite their dominance all season long, many media members have been far more concerned with diagnosing whether Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown is the best player on the team.
The question was once again sparked after Game 1 when Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd asserted that he believes that Jaylen Brown is the Celtics “most valuable player”, not Jayson Tatum.
Myers, the former general manager of the Golden State Warriors, has plenty of history dealing with this kind of media-driven dynamic with a team. Specifically when it was highly debated who the Warriors best player was when the team brought in Kevin Durant alongside Steph Curry.
On NBA Countdown Sunday night, Myers spoke about the narrative, saying that “we”, as in media members, are tearing apart teams by posing this question “more than ever”.
“The Celtics are on top,” said Myers. People used to come at (Steph) Curry and (Kevin) Durant. They come at you in the media. They come at you in the street. But what matters is your locker room and what they can withstand.”
Myers then got more specific, hinting at Stephen A. potentially playing into this narrative for content.
“We tear teams apart more than we ever have, maybe on purpose, maybe that guy down there,” said Myers while pointing at Stephen A. Smith. “I don’t know, maybe.”
https://twitter.com/awfulannouncing/status/1799951929373831197
Stephen A. immediately pushed back against this accusation from Myers, saying that social media is instead responsible for this narrative coming to light.
“Not me. Not me. That’s social media, not me,” said Smith.
While Stephen A. specifically hasn’t pushed the Tatum vs. Brown discussion recently, it has been a topic discussed on First Take by some of the recent guest hosts.
On Thursday, Andrea Carter claimed that Tatum was “under more pressure to be the best player on the floor for Boston than to win the title.
https://twitter.com/FirstTake/status/1798746134749598065
This kind of take being featured on a show like First Take clearly pushes a wedge between Tatum and Brown. And while that’s not entirely on Stephen A, it does show that this topic is very much something that Stephen A is fully open to discussing.
