Team Nigeria stunned the USA contingent by defeating them in their first pre-Olympic fixture. The Nigerian side had scored 20 three-pointers and emerged winners by the score of 90-87.
The favourites for the Olympic gold were subjected to the shocking loss, which drew comments from Stephen A Smith. During a segment on ESPN, the analyst claimed that the USA should not be losing to such teams. He even proceeded to try and read out the names from the Nigeria roster, but termed them as unprounouncable.
“some dude Gabe Nnamdi who goes by ‘Gabe Vincent’ for the Miami Heat.” Smith said during his segment on ESPN.
Nigeria Basketball retorted to the comments made by Smith, and termed them as pure disrespect.
“A one minute clip with no basketball analysis and pure disrespect to the names of our culture. Do better please @stephenasmith. This is low, even for you,” Nigeria Basketball tweeted.
Team Nigeria showed that they mean business by going on to win against fourth-ranked side Argentina as well. They emerged as dominant winners following a blowout win by 23-points. They took the chance to take a dig at Stephen A Smith.
On the other hand, Team USA endured yet another loss in their journey to the Olympics. The Gregg Popovich led side fell short against Australia by 91-83.
Stephen A Smith currently embroiled in controversies
The popular sports presenter was lambasted for his comments over Los Angeles Angels star Shohei Ohtani. Smith claimed that Ohtani should not be endorsed as the face of the MLB, given the fact that he cannot speak English.
“I don’t think it helps that the number one face is a dude that needs an interpreter so you can understand what the hell he’s saying in this country.”
He went on to say that his comments were misinterpreted, but he stood by what he said.
“I’m talking about the marketability and the promotion of the sport. … If you are a sport trying to ingratiate yourself with the American public the way Major League Baseball is, because of the problems you’ve been dealing with in terms of having to improve the attractiveness of the sport, it helps if you speak the English language,” Smith clarified.
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