Stephen A. Smith and Kevin Durant have gone at each other for years, and they've recently had another back-and-forth on social media. Durant was the last person to respond, but Smith posted on social media that his response was coming soon, and he referenced a West Coast rapper in the process.
“As the great [Ice Cube] said in ‘No Vaseline, [Kevin Durant],' D— I'm glad y'all went and set it off.' See y'all tomorrow,” Smith tweeted on X, formerly Twitter.
Usually, when Smith teases something like this, he's either going to have a segment on First Take dedicated to Durant, or he's going to wait until the Stephen A. Smith Show to address him.
Stephen A. Smith calls out Kevin Durant's leadership

This back-and-forth between Stephen A. Smith and Kevin Durant started when the ESPN media personality said he didn't have much belief in the Suns' star as their leader.
“I don't question the greatness nor commitment of Kevin Durant. … When you are that great … you should be able to be a better leader than he has shown,” Smith said on First Take.
Durant responded on X, formerly Twitter, saying, “I would disagree, stephen. I would argue, passionately, that my intangibles have always been on par with my talent.”




.@stephenasmith doesn't have "much" belief in the Suns with KD as their superstar 👀
"I don't question the greatness nor commitment of Kevin Durant. … When you are that great … you should be able to be a better leader than he has shown." pic.twitter.com/0DTd5Vxvfh
— First Take (@FirstTake) October 24, 2024
Recently, Durant was asked about Smith after a game, and he called him out once again.
“Yeah, Stephen A., I don’t understand how people even listen to Stephen A.,” Durant said. “I’ve been in the league for 18 years. I’ve never seen Stephen A. at a practice, or a film session, or a shoot-around. I’ve never seen him anywhere but on TV talking s— about players. … He’s a clown to me. He’s always been a clown. You can write that, too.
Durant admitted that of course he has things that he needs to work on, but when talking about leadership, that stuff is “vague and subjective.”
There have been people throughout Durant's career who have questioned his leadership, especially once he joined the Golden State Warriors. Charles Barkley once called Durant a bus rider for how he joined the Warriors, meaning he found the easy way to get a ring instead of leading his own team.
The same thing was said when he was traded to Suns, but Durant doesn't care what people think. If people haven't learned by now, he's going to do whatever he feel is best for his career.