The Nigerian basketball team has slammed ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith after he went on TV to rant about America’s loss to Nigeria and disrespected Nigerian players in the process.
While speaking on “First Take”, Stephen seemingly purposely, butchered the names of the Nigerian basketball players.
This is the second offensive rant Stephen made on Monday, July 12, following a xenophobic rant about Los Angeles Angels star Shohei Ohtani.
While slamming the U.S. basketball team for losing to Nigeria, Stephen said on ESPN: “There’s no excuse to lose to Nigeria. [To lose to] some dude Gabe Nnamdi, who goes by Gabe Vincent for the Miami Heat. Or Caleb Agada. Or Nma … however the hell you pronounce his name.
Reacting on Monday night, June 12, the Nigerian Basketball Federation condemned Stephen, writing: “You can lament your loss without slandering the players who gave blood and sweat to grind out a win. Put some respect to their names.”
Nigeria’s basketball team, D’Tigers also tweeted at Stephen, writing: “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.”
A number of D’Tigers’ players and Nigerians also slammed Stephen A. Smith.
