The Los Angeles Lakers superstar Anthony Davis created a massive ruckus in the NBA community by unfollowing Steven A. Smith after a rash comment. The NBA analyst is a wide-spoken sports commentator famous for his humorous commentary on the sport. However, this time, he might have pushed some limits that were not on par with Anthony Davis. The 29-year-old plays an explosive game on the court, which invites a lot of injuries on him. Some injuries can leave an impact, and some would just not affect him at all. But making fun of the incident does not seem like the right decision at all.
Steven A. Smith is known for his hot takes on various subjects regarding the NBA action on the court. In the past, he has also spoken some harsh words for Davis to light a fire under him to play better. But this time, Stephen decided to have a laugh about his head injury in game five against the Golden State Warriors. The commentator could not understand the seriousness of the injury and said the first thing on his mind. The words that came out of his mouth made Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley on TNTs. And the fans remain confused as to why Anthony Davis has unfollowed Stephen A. Smith on Twitter.
Anthony Davis Wants To Clear His Head
The postseason comes with enormous stress on the players with back-to-back games in a series. And on such days listening to criticism about oneself could not help any athlete in the process. Therefore rest, and a calm mind becomes the most critical factor for performing the best on game day. And to clear out all the outside noise, Davis would have decided to unfollow the critic who had been on his back. The unfollowing also followed when Stephen decided to portray his injury lightly and cracked a few jokes on the TNT show.
It’s wild that this is the conversation on a national talk show in 2023 the day after a player looks like they may have been knocked out of a playoff game due to a concussion. pic.twitter.com/SCrMDthGpz
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) May 11, 2023
The unfollowing incident shadowed the Lakers’ games in the Western Conference finals. LA struggles to find firm feet on the court against the best attacking team in their conference. Denver Nuggets swept the Lakers off their feet in game 1 of the finals. However, the Lakers also displayed a fighting spirit, trying to cut their lead as short as possible. Thanks to the impressive 40 points of Anthony Davis. At the end of the fourth quarter, the score was 132-126, giving LA a lot to think about home advantage.
Stephen A Smith Apologized For His Non-Empathetic Comment
Blow back is Blow back. Comes with the territory, peeps. I was in no way minimizing the seriousness of a concussion. I was questioning whether Anthony Davis really had one, considering the play I saw & other hits I’ve seen him absorb. But, bottom line, it was wrong for me to do.…
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) May 11, 2023
The sports commentator finally realized his mistake when he received a massive blowback from the fans for his statements. He then clarified his situation on Twitter, saying he did not mean to downplay the seriousness of Davis’s injury. But instead, he wanted to question whether Anthony Davis had the capacity to sustain such kind of injuries.
The seriousness of the injury could be understood by how he was directly taken to the locker room after the collision. The apology from Smith is also an undertaking that the head injuries are not a subject to be taken lightly. Fortunately, Anthony Davis was fit enough to take part in game 6 to lead them to the finals.