Stephen A. backtracks on Dubs' Finals prediction for Grizzlies

Share

At the start of the 2022-23 NBA season, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith predicted that the Warriors and Brooklyn Nets would meet in the NBA Finals. 

Now, three months into the season, Smith remains confident in his preseason prediction, but believes a few other teams might prevent Warriors-Nets from happening

“At the start of the season, I had y’all. The Golden State Warriors vs. the Brooklyn Nets,” Smith said on the “Draymond Green Show” this week. “My prediction, I don’t think, is looking that bad right now. I’m not worried about y’all the way everybody else is.” 

But Smith’s concerns have grown after several Warriors players, he believes, haven’t stepped up and performed in ways he thought they would. He named players like Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody and James Wiseman but was most critical of Klay Thompson. 

“That damn Klay Thompson, and I say that damn Klay Thompson because you know I love me some Klay Thompson. I think Klay Thompson is one of the top five shooters in the history of basketball, and these last three games he’s averaging over 25, he looks like the Klay I know and love,” Smith said. “I don’t know what the hell was going on with him the previous 17, 18 games I witnessed.”

If Thompson and the others can’t get it together in time, Smith has an idea of which team will be ready to take over the Warriors’ reigns in the West. 

“I think the Memphis Grizzlies deserve the nod over y’all right now and I’m not sleeping on the [New Orleans] Pelicans,” Smith said. “But I say that with this caveat. If Klay Thompson and Steph Curry get going, I don’t give a damn who goes up against y’all -- y’all taking them out … I think the only team that will have a shot to beat y’all -- at your best -- is a Brooklyn Nets team at their best, because they can shoot too. 

“I would tell you that [the] Boston [Celtics] and Memphis deserve the nod today. But I'm holding on for dear life of my preseason prediction, y’all vs. the Brooklyn Nets.” 

The Grizzlies are probably the last team Green wanted to hear given their recent intense matchups with the Warriors. But Smith believes last season’s Western Conference semifinals actually prepared Memphis for a shot at the big prize. 

“I think Memphis is ready. And I think it’s your fault,” Smith told Green. “You whoopin’ it up in Memphis, you get the crowd going. Ja’s your boy but you like talking to him, y’all like talking back and forth, because they like talking. Throughout my life of covering sports, the one thing I’ve always paid attention to is those truly knocking at the door. Memphis is knocking at the door.

“This brother Ja Morant, if he’s healthy and he’s going against y’all, and they got home court advantage, and you got a Game 7 in Memphis, Dray, that’s a tall task. Memphis is knocking at the door. They’re tippin' at y’all heels.” 

But after missing 11 games with a shoulder injury, Curry is returning to action Tuesday night when the Warriors host the Phoenix Suns. It feels like good timing for Golden State as Thompson also appears to have figured his early season struggles out. 

Thompson is averaging 33.6 points on 46.6 percent shooting from the field and 40.0 percent from deep, along with 5.6 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 39 minutes over the five games he's played. And as Smith attested to, the Splash Bros playing alongside each other while they're both hot is a very dangerous sight for the NBA. 

"Steph Curry the baby face assassin is about to return tonight. That brother is something special. And Klay Thompson has been playing better," Smith said on ESPN's "First Take" on Tuesday morning. "In the playoffs, you want to avoid a No. 1 seed, but again, the West is wild. It’s wide open too.

"Do you really want Klay and Steph at their best going up against them come postseason time? Because the one thing we know isn’t going to affect them is nerves, they’re four-time champions. They’re the greatest shooting backcourt in the history of basketball ... Steph Curry on the court with anything close to the Klay Thompson that we’re accustomed to is the worst nightmare the West could possibly fathom."

RELATED: Four things that stood out from Warriors in Steph's absence

Phoenix will be the first victim to the dynamic duo as it will do anything and everything in its power to avoid that "nightmare" on Tuesday at Chase Center. 

Download and follow the Dubs Talk Podcast

Contact Us