Stephen A. Smith hasn’t been shy over the years at ESPN about his outward fandom of the New York Knicks, even being criticized for being too big of a fan at times. So naturally when the Knicks made a huge move to trade with the Brooklyn Nets for star forward Mikal Bridges on Tuesday night, he had quite the reaction.
The move was a substantial one that will impact the Knicks’ future one way or another. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski broke the news of the Knicks sending Bojan Bogdanovic, four unprotected first-round picks, a protected first-round pick (via Bucks), an unprotected pick swap, and a second-rounder to Brooklyn for Bridges.
Smith took to social media shortly after the breaking news emerged, posting a video of his live reaction to the big acquisition.
In the video, he acknowledged that he believes the Knicks still need to add one more big-name player in his eyes to be a true championship contender, but that Bridges “fits into the culture”.
“YESSS! Now, I know… Y’all sitting out there saying ‘It’s Mikal Bridges, he’s a good player but it ain’t like y’all got KD or somebody,'” said Smith. “Bump all that! Chemistry matters, reliability matters, consistency matters, defense matters. The brother can shoot. The brother can play. I’m sorry, I like this move by the New York Knicks. He’s young, he’s energetic, he’s seasoned, he defends. And he fits right into the culture.
“And that’s all I ask baby. You crawl before you walk. We crawled last year, and we’re gonna walk. We’re close to sprinting. I still think we need another piece. But we’re going in the right direction. I like this, I like this, I LIKE THIS! Go, New York, go, New York, go! Whew! We crawl before we rise!”
https://t.co/cS8dL5GFSC pic.twitter.com/f9f6MblDmT
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) June 26, 2024
It’s quite ironic to see Stephen A. this excited about the move. Particularly because he once said that the 2016 Villanova Wildcats “didn’t have a real NBA prospect” on their roster. That team of course had the likes of Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, Donte DiVincenzo, and Mikal Bridges, who are all now Knicks.
Now, Stephen A. seems to be all in on this Knicks team which is essentially set to be led by Villanova players. And he seemingly couldn’t be happier about it.
