“Tainted a Really Special Moment”: Fans Disappointed with Kenny Smith’s Comments About Sabrina Ionescu After Her Loss to Steph Curry

The most anticipated event of the All-Star weekend, the exclusive Three-Point shootout between WNBA star Sabrina Ionescu and Golden State Warriors veteran Stephen Curry, took place last night. The contest resulted in Curry winning the competition by a narrow margin. However, the viewers were disappointed with the commentary during the event, especially the remarks made by 2x NBA champion and TNT personality Kenny Smith.

Curry defeated Ionescu on a 26-29 margin, which clearly shows how the WNBA star is not far behind in prowess from one of the best shooters in the NBA. However, during his commentary spell, Smith made certain remarks about Ionescu, suggesting that the New York Liberty star should have shot from the WNBA three-point line.

Smith remarked, “I think she should have shot from the women’s line. That would have been a fair contest.” This comment was made despite Ionescu losing only by three shots to Curry and equaling the likes of Damian Lillard, Trae Young, and Karl-Anthony Towns‘ 26-point showing in last night’s Three-Point contest.

Fans have been lambasting the Houston Rockets legend on social media for his remark. A user on X blamed him for ‘tainting a really special moment in basketball history.’

Sara Jane Gamelli, a staff writer for ‘Ball is Life’, also pointed out how Smith’s comments were in utter distaste, without any knowledge of Sabrina Ionescu’s daily workout regimen and practice sets to achieve such a mark. Gamelli wrote on X, “Yeah clearly he’s never seen her warm up, practice or shoot at all. She pulls no where near the W line. Poor comments, and the golf comments at the end really got me!” 

Some other fans also expressed their disappointment with Kenny Smith, who made such remarks on a public platform, despite all the efforts taken by the league to make women’s and men’s basketball equal in all regards. Though Reggie Miller tried mitigating the damage, some fans believe Smith had already ‘messed up’ and acted like Ionescu ‘went out there and got annihilated.’ 

Nevertheless, fans enjoyed the showing between Curry and Ionescu, many even believing that the WNBA is slowly catching up to the same levels as the men’s league. With the level of interest and fan-following WNBA stars are gathering, the day is not far when they will be competing at a similar level.

Joel Embiid reacted to Kenny Smith’s comments

Kenny Smith’s distasteful comments on Sabrina Ionescu’s three-point showing have also earned a reaction from the 2023 NBA MVP Joel Embiid. The Philadelphia 76ers center took to X and wrote on his page, “Kenny Smith been drinking lmao.” 

Embiid has always been vocal on his social media platforms and has never shied away from trolling NBA personalities with his tweets or comments. This was, perhaps, one of such moments where the Cameroonian superstar could not hold back.

Aside from Joel Embiid, Indiana Pacers legend Reggie Miller, who was commentating beside Kenny Smith, also seemed embarrassed by his fellow panelist’s remarks. Though Miller tried minimizing the damage, it did not help Kenny Smith from holding his comments back.

In a fit of anger, Miller sarcastically asked Smith, “According to you, you want her [Sabrina Ionescu] to play with dolls, right?” Though Smith tried justifying his remarks quite vehemently, all of that was in vain, as his comments would go down as one of the vilest remarks.

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• Joel Embiid
• Kenny Smith
• Sabrina Ionescu
• Stephen Curry