Tag: Phoenix Suns

Stephen A. Smith reacted after ‘lying’ Kevin Durant called him a clown

Their beef is already in midseason form!

The NBA season is still early, but ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith and Phoenix Suns superstar Kevin Durant are already in the middle of a beef.

Last month during a segment on First Take, the sports commentator said that he doesn’t have much belief in a Suns organization led by Durant. This struck a nerve with Durant, who replied to a clip of the video posted on social media after it aired.

Durant was recently asked about the criticism from Smith, and he did not hold back with his thoughts. He called the ESPN talking head a “clown” and said that he never even sees Smith attending games or practices (via The Athletic):

“Yeah, Stephen A., I don’t understand how people even listen to Stephen A.,” he told The Athletic. “I’ve been in the league for 18 years. I’ve never seen Stephen A. at a practice, or a film session, or a shoot-around. I’ve never seen him anywhere but on TV talking s— about players. … He’s a clown to me. He’s always been a clown. You can write that, too.”

Smith predictably took issue with these claims and explained why Durant was perhaps incorrect in this assessment.

Here is more from Smith:

“I got bad news for Kevin Durant. If you’re expecting me to reciprocate with that kind of pettiness and childishness, it’s not going to happen … Respectfully, Kevin Durant, could you stop lying please? I’ve been an NBA reporter and I was a columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer as well. Kevin Durant has seen me in the locker room when he was in Oklahoma City. He has seen me in the locker room when he was at Golden State. He has certainly seen me at games throughout his career. But unfortunately for him, I don’t have to be at shoot-around and I don’t have to be in the postgame locker room. I happen to have a hit show that’s been number one for twelve years. I have other things to do with my time. I go to games all the time. I’m not a beat reporter any more.”

Smith is absolutely correct in that his responsibilities at ESPN have grown far beyond anything that would require him to need locker room access.

But it makes sense that Durant would find it frustrating to hear Smith criticize his leadership abilities if he isn’t actually there to see what that even looks like.

Smith then wondered who is allowed to actually speak about Durant, as the NBA superstar has gotten upset when Charles Barkley and Shannon Sharpe (as well as current players like CJ McCollum) have called him out before as well.

He added that Durant is one of the greatest players to ever play the game but noted his “sensitivity” and “petulance” and “flagrant immaturity” as well.

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2024-25 Phoenix Suns: A quick preview

Aside from the addition of Tyus Jones at point guard, the real shift for Phoenix this season comes with the arrival of new head coach Mike Budenholzer, who replaces Frank Vogel. Budenholzer’s defensive pedigree could be the missing piece to push the …

Aside from the addition of Tyus Jones at point guard, the real shift for Phoenix this season comes with the arrival of new head coach Mike Budenholzer, who replaces Frank Vogel. Budenholzer’s defensive pedigree could be the missing piece to push the Suns further in their title quest, especially after the team finished 13th in defensive efficiency last season. His system, which emphasizes tough defense and ball movement, should complement the offensive firepower of Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, and Bradley Beal. While the Suns didn’t make significant upgrades in the offseason, Budenholzer’s ability to maximize his players’ potential might elevate their performance across the board.

Pictures from the Detroit Pistons vs. Phoenix Suns game in the Breslin Center

There was a basketball game played in the Breslin Center last night that didn’t involve Michigan State. See pictures of it here:

There was a basketball game played last night in the Breslin Center, and it didn’t include Michigan State, as the Detroit Pistons faced the Phoenix Suns in a preseason exhibition.

You can see the best pictures from the game below:

Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan state news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Andrew Brewster on Twitter @IAmBrewster.

Devin Booker talks about what it meant to play in the Breslin Center

Devin Booker talks about what it meant to play in the Breslin Center

Devin Booker played a basketball game in the Breslin Center last night, and he even wore Michigan State gear, to boot. No, it didn’t happen in the way many hoped it would years ago, when Booker committed to Kentucky over MSU at the last minute, but Booker did hang around the team yesterday and seemed to enjoy his time in East Lansing.

After the game, Booker told Wood TV:

‘I’ve always wanted to be a Spartan, and now I’m finally given the chance to play in the Breslin.’

https://twitter.com/laigerber/status/1843842644528771078

Look, I can empathize with MSU fans who are acting a little salty about this, but I’m never going to criticize a superstar like Booker for showing love to Michigan State. It’s cool.

Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan state news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Andrew Brewster on Twitter @IAmBrewster.

Devin Booker reps Michigan State basketball in warm-up before Pistons vs. Suns preseason game

Devin Booker met with Tom Izzo, gifted shoes to the MSU team, and even warmed up in Michigan State gear on Tuesday night

Former Michigan State basketball player Mat Ishbia now owns the Phoenix Suns, and on Tuesday night, Ishbia brought his Suns back to his old stomping grounds in East Lansing to face the Detroit Pistons in the Breslin Center as part of a preseason exhibition.

Before the game, Suns’ star and Grand Rapids native Devin Booker gifted a pair of shoes to the Michigan State basketball team, met with Tom Izzo, and even warmed up in full Michigan State gear.

Here is Booker warming up in full Michigan State gear:

Here is Booker meeting with Izzo, a coach who nearly secured his commitment years ago:

Here are the shoes he gifted the team:

Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan state news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Andrew Brewster on Twitter @IAmBrewster.

Wisconsin basketball legend is back in the NBA

Wisconsin basketball legend is back in the NBA

Wisconsin basketball legend Frank Kaminsky signed a training camp contract with the Phoenix Suns this week, according to his representation at Priority Sports.

Kaminsky is back in the NBA, at least for the time being, after playing the 2023-24 season with Partizan Belgrade in Serbia. He played 57 games during the team’s EuroLeague season, averaging 8.9 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists.

Related: Big Ten basketball teams ranked by returning production entering 2024-25 season

The former Badger played three seasons in Phoenix (2019-22). He played a consistent reserve role on the Suns team that lost to the Milwaukee Bucks in the 2021 NBA Finals.

This season would be Kaminsky’s 11th in the NBA if he makes the Suns’ regular-season roster.

His career averages are 8.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.6 assists on 43% shooting and 35% from three. His best seasons came with the Charlotte Hornets in 2016-17 and 2017-18: He eclipsed 23 minutes and 11 points per game in each season.

Kaminsky’s college career needs no explanation. The 2015 National College Player of the Year and consensus first-team All-American was the driving force behind back-to-back trips to the Final Four and the program getting on the doorstep of winning a national title. His No. 44 is retired in the Kohl Center rafters.

The Badger great joins Johnny Davis (Washington Wizards) and Micah Potter (Utah Jazz) as the only former Badgers in the NBA. All three are looking to carve out significant roles entering the upcoming season.

Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion.

The Western Conference isn’t as scary as it seems for the Lakers

Lakers fans shouldn’t fret too much about the competition in the Western Conference.

The narrative around the Los Angeles Lakers these days is that they’ve had a terrible offseason and that they won’t get much accomplished this coming season. While the former is true, the latter may or may not come to pass.

One argument more cynical fans and pundits have made against the Lakers having any real success is that the Western Conference will be much tougher this coming season. In their minds, a bunch of teams will be substantially better, leaving the Lakers to idle in the dust.

But a closer examination puts that claim in some real doubt.

In the 2023-24 season, the Oklahoma City Thunder claimed the top seed in the West with a 57-25 record. The Denver Nuggets were second with 57 wins of their own, and the Minnesota Timberwolves were third at 56-26.

After that, there was a considerable drop-off of sorts. The Los Angeles Clippers, who have been the darlings of the national media for most of the past five seasons and have often been overwhelming favorites to reach the NBA Finals, won a mere 51 games. The Dallas Mavericks, who did reach the finals, finished fifth with a 50-32 record.

Then came the Phoenix Suns and New Orleans Pelicans, both of whom took home 49 victories. The Lakers, of course, had the seventh-best record in the West at 47-35.

Here’s a look at who should be better, who should be worse and who will roughly stay put. As you will see, there is no one for the Lakers to truly fear in the Western Conference right now.

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Nets get even better grade for Kevin Durant trade after Mikal Bridges deal

After the Brooklyn Nets traded Mikal Bridges to the New York Knicks for quite the haul, their trade of Kevin Durant is looking even better.

The Brooklyn Nets have been one of the more interesting teams in the NBA in recent memory and not for all of the best reasons. After the past two seasons, Brooklyn have traded three superstars along with a valuable two-way player in Mikal Bridges, but they’re at least getting their praises for their return.

In a recent article by Bleacher Report, their NBA staff decided to regrade some of the biggest trades that have happened in the last five years. As every Nets fan knows, Brooklyn has been involved in some of the biggest trades over the past couple of seasons, including trading Kevin Durant to the Phoenix Suns.

As a recap of the trade, the Nets received Mikal Bridges, Jae Crowder, Cameron Johnson, 2023 first-round pick (Noah Clowney), 2025 first-round pick, 2027 first-round pick, 2028 first-round swap, 2029 first-round pick while the Suns received Durant and TJ Warren.

While many had said at the time that the Nets do not do a good job of managing their superstar era of Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden since all of the stars requested their own trades before anything substantial happened.

Given that Brooklyn was able to get so much for Durant and then get so much for Bridges after trading him to the New York Knicks last month, the franchise is now looking like one of the best organizations in terms of getting equitable returns for their players.

As a result, Bleacher Report gave the Nets an A++++ grade because of the combined returns for Durant and Bridges and now, Brooklyn is set up well for the next few years in terms of draft capital. Here’s what Dan Favale had to say about the Nets’ grade:

“Bridges was just flipped to the New York Knicks for five additional first-round picks and another first-round swap. Brooklyn was also able to leverage Phoenix’s 2027 and 2029 selections into regaining control of its own first-rounders for 2025 and 2026.

All told, the Nets basically turned KD and two swaps into seven extra first-round picks, the return of the rights to a pair of their own firsts, another two swaps and Cam Johnson. (Crowder was also used to scoop up seconds from Milwaukee in 2028 and 2029—another savvy move).”

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Nets’ Dennis Schroder fires back at Suns’ Kevin Durant’s Team USA photo

Brooklyn Nets guard Dennis Schroder is speaking his mind on Phoenix Suns superstar Kevin Durant viral Team USA photo after winning the gold.

Brooklyn Nets guard Dennis Schroder is fresh off leading Germany through the 2024 Paris Olympics while also being regarded as one of the five best players to play in the tournament. After Germany was defeated by Serbia in the bronze medal game, Schroder commented on the differences between European basketball and American basketball, something that Phoenix Suns superstar Kevin Durant responded to in his own way.

While it seemed that the back-and-forth between the two NBA players would end there, it looks like Schroder has more to say about Durant responding in the way that he did. Schroder, who streams on Twitch, recently discussed Durant’s photo showing the members of Team USA with their gold medals after beating France with the caption “entertainment and IQ.”

On his stream, Schroder called Durant “weak” for saying what he said given that Durant is held in higher regard in the NBA space than Schroder is. It seems that Schroder did not appreciate Durant taking a shot at him on social media, something that Durant has been known to do throughout his career.

“They won, and Kevin Durant tweets, ‘High IQ and entertainment.’ For me, that’s just being weak,” Schroder said. “You’re that type of a star, and you have to say something to a person like me who not even meant it to be negative. It was just what I see from both sides, you know what I’m saying? I didn’t appreciate it.”

As a recap, when Schroder was asked about the differences between American basketball and European basketball, he said that European basketball is “no entertainment, it’s straight IQ basketball. Straight coaching.” Durant may have taken these comments from Schroder as a slight implying that European basketball is how the game is supposed to be played while American basketball is just for entertainment and no substance.

Seeing as both guys don’t hesitate to speak their peace, this could be something that last into the regular season.

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Suns troll Nets fans, Brooklyn residents during release of 2024-25 NBA schedule

The Brooklyn Nets finally saw their entire schedule for the 2024-25 NBA season, but the Phoenix Suns decided to troll them for their laughs.

The Brooklyn Nets can move forward knowing every matchup that they will be playing during the upcoming 2024-25 NBA season after the league released the full schedule on Thursday. With Brooklyn patiently awaiting the start of training camp and everything that follows, they may have some extra motivation from a Western Conference foe.

As is the case for most events in the NBA calendar, every team tries to partake in the event in a creative way, such as doing something cool that’s related to the release of the schedule. For a team like the Phoenix Suns, they decided to approach their schedule release by making sure that every team had a reason to get back at them in some way.

When it came time for the Suns to describe Brooklyn’s fanbase, they used a trope that is common for the Nets, especially since the team hasn’t been in Brooklyn for the franchise’s entire existence. In what is one of the most common memes to be used nowadays, the man (Brooklyn residents/fans) that is walking with his girlfriend (Nets) is looking back to look at the other girl (New York Knicks).

For anyone that is in a relationship, this is a big no-no, but it seems that enough people believe that Nets fans are always looking at the Knicks, especially with the franchise potentially on the brink of making it to the Eastern Conference Finals this upcoming season. Ultimately, all of this trolling is in the name of good fun and it brings an added element to one of the most exciting times of the offseason for NBA fans.

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