Stephen A. Smith has long criticized New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson for his lack of form, and his latest jab was aimed at former NBA player and current team television analyst Antonio Williamson. This led to criticism from Daniels.
After Smith conditioned Williamson again on Friday. spoke on ESPN “It’s not about his game. It’s about how many burgers he eats and whether he gets in shape or whether he keeps eating McDonald’s and keeps pestering chefs to come to his restaurants. Whether you mean it or not.”
Daniels countered that Smith was “inadequate and lazy.”
Daniels said on NBA Radio on SiriusXM: I felt that what Stephen A said about Zion this morning was completely inappropriate and lazy. If there is a problem, there are ways to deal with it. ”
Daniels went on to say that New Orleans and Williamson are doing well, with the Pelicans winning eight of their last 10 games.
Williamson is averaging 25 points, 6.5 assists and 5.8 rebounds per game over the last eight games.
“[The Pelicans] We’ve won 8 of our last 9 games and I woke up this morning and this place is being talked about? For me, it almost gets personal,” said Daniels, who played 13 years in the NBA, won a title with the Spurs in 1999 and has been with New Orleans as an anchor since 2019.
For the year, Williamson’s numbers are down slightly from last season, when he was named an All-Star.
Daniels also pointed out that Smith is used to criticizing Williamson on this issue.
Also this season, Smith titled his podcast “Zion is Fat.”
The Pelicans didn’t ignore Smith, either, and took creative ways to protect Williamson. They attempted to mock Smith’s own athletic ability by using screenshots of Smith’s impressive college performance while playing at Salem State University.
Not surprisingly, Smith attacked the Pelicans and responded with the following on the X: “You can’t score when you can’t play with a serious knee injury. That’s my fact. Now…what’s your excuse for not winning anything???”
