Stephen A. Smith was not pleased with the moves the New York Knicks made during Thursday’s NBA Draft.
Prior to the Knicks’ No. 11 pick being announced by NBA commissioner Adam Silver, Smith and fellow Knicks fan Spike Lee knelt down and prayed during ESPN’s coverage of the draft.
Spike Lee and Stephen A. Smith had to pray for the Knicks during the #NBADraft 😅 pic.twitter.com/WFVCT4QkUL
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) June 24, 2022
The Knicks picked French forward Ousmane Dieng, and Smith wasn’t happy about it.
“I’ve never heard anything about him,” Smith said.
Lee stuck around for the announcement and told Smith that Dieng was a sleeper pick. Upon hearing this, Smith compared Dieng to a former first-round pick for the Knicks from France.
“A sleeper?” Smith said. “That’s what [former Knicks president] Phil Jackson called Frank Ntilikina.”
IT HAPPENED AGAIN! 😡😡😡 pic.twitter.com/TVqqb6bg8o
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) June 24, 2022
The Knicks wound up trading Dieng to the Oklahoma City Thunder, but the misery for Smith didn’t end there. After moving Dieng, the Knicks acquired No. 13 pick Jalen Duren from the Charlotte Hornets. The team then moved Duren and Kemba Walker to the Detroit Pistons.
Smith posted a video of his reaction in the aftermath of the deal on social media. In the clip, Lee appeared to be consoling Smith, who had his face in his hand and was shaking his head in apparent disappointment. He had a one-word message to describe his thoughts.
“Pain,” Smith wrote.
Pain. pic.twitter.com/6YsLaipCQR
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) June 24, 2022
Smith’s reaction on Thursday night seemed relatively calm compared to his rant regarding the Knicks from earlier this year.
