Max Kellerman has lived with one of the most replayed debate clips in sports media for six years, and he still refuses to budge. The moment came in 2019, when he told Stephen A. Smith he wanted Andre Iguodala, not Steph Curry, taking a wide-open shot with everything on the line. Viewers roasted the take. The Warriors coaching staff later wore shirts that poked fun at it. Even Iguodala jokingly disagreed. Yet Kellerman keeps the same stance today.
Kellerman revisited the topic on “The Bill Simmons Podcast,” and he gave immediate context for why he answered that way in the first place, per AwfulAnnouncing. “The point I was making was Steph Curry, I had seen in Game 7 of the 2016 Finals,” he told Simmons. “They had the greatest half court offense in the history of basketball. Five minutes left in the fourth quarter of a Game 7 at home, they did not score another point.”
He described the sequence from memory, calling out careless passes, missed shots, and what looked like hesitation from Curry in the biggest moments of that game. Kellerman added, “That to me, is fate of the universe on the line.”
Why Kellerman trusts Iguodala in the moment
Once he laid out the reasoning, Kellerman circled back to the original statement. He stressed he never claimed Iguodala was a better shooter. His argument focused on trust during one specific type of moment when pressure crushes the court. Kellerman said a player like Iguodala gives him confidence because “if he has the shot, he’s gonna take it and nail it.”
He also noted that his viral declaration came during an argument with Stephen A. Smith and Isiah Thomas, which made the moment even louder. The resurfaced clip gained renewed life in recent weeks as Simmons brought it up during a separate discussion about Eli Manning, another athlete known for late-game resilience.
Kellerman, now years removed from First Take, seems comfortable with how the meme followed him. He knows the internet will never let it go. He accepts it, and he stands on it.
