{"id":542962,"date":"2021-05-27T13:51:01","date_gmt":"2021-05-27T17:51:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=542962"},"modified":"2021-05-27T13:51:03","modified_gmt":"2021-05-27T17:51:03","slug":"its-not-because-youre-black-espns-stephen-a-smith-blasts-kyrie-irving-for-calling-boston-fans-racist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/its-not-because-youre-black-espns-stephen-a-smith-blasts-kyrie-irving-for-calling-boston-fans-racist\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It\u2019s Not Because You\u2019re Black!\u2019: ESPN\u2019s Stephen A. Smith Blasts Kyrie Irving For Calling Boston Fans \u2018Racist\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">34<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fits-not-because-youre-black-espns-stephen-a-smith-blasts-kyrie-irving-for-calling-boston-fans-racist%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=542962&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/GettyImages-1196852558.jpg?w=1200&amp;h=800&amp;ixlib=react-9.0.3\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p><span>Stephen A. Smith of ESPN has a certain way of getting under people\u2019s skin. He\u2019s loud, he\u2019s obnoxious, and my goodness, is he opinionated. His stance on topics ranging from sports, to culture, to politics, can be infuriating, but he isn\u2019t afraid to go against the woke Left when necessary.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>On Tuesday, Kyrie Irving of the Brooklyn Nets \u2014 no stranger to getting involved in conversations outside of sports \u2014 <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/kyrie-irving-hopes-there-isnt-any-subtle-racism-in-his-return-to-boston\"><span>discussed<\/span><\/a><span> his upcoming return to the Boston Celtics arena and the kind of reception he expects.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cIt\u2019s not my first time being an opponent in Boston so I\u2019m just looking forward to competing with my teammates and hopefully we can just keep it strictly basketball,\u201d <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SNYNets\/status\/1397408610678943745\"><span>Irving told reporters<\/span><\/a><span> Tuesday. The seven-time all-star went on to say he hoped \u201cthere\u2019s no belligerence or any racism going on, subtle racism and people yelling sh*t from the crowd. But even if it is, it\u2019s part of the nature of the game and we\u2019re just gonna focus on what we can control.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Asked whether he has experienced racism in Boston in his playing career before, Irving said, \u201cI\u2019m not the only one that could attest to this, but it is what it is.\u201d&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>&nbsp;Irving played for the Celtics from 2017-2019, before shunning Boston in free-agency for the Nets. He should expect a rude reception from the Boston faithful, but any player of any skin color should expect righteous indignation from a fanbase that feels betrayed.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Smith agreed, and had quite a bit to say on Irving\u2019s answer on ESPN\u2019s \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediaite.com\/sports\/stephen-a-smith-blasts-kyrie-irving-for-blaming-bostons-vitriol-toward-him-on-racism-youre-not-the-enemy-because-youre-black\/?jwsource=cl\"><span>First Take<\/span><\/a><span>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cKyrie Irving was wrong to do this. He was flat out wrong,\u201d Smith said. \u201cBecause I don\u2019t think this was about race at all. If you go to a Boston Celtics fan, when they are against you, it\u2019s because you are not a Boston Celtic. It\u2019s not because you\u2019re Black. It\u2019s because you\u2019re not a Boston Celtic.\u201d&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Smith went on to discuss Irving\u2019s role in the potential backlash he\u2019ll face Friday night for game three of the Nets vs Celtics first round playoff series.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cAnd if you\u2019re Kyrie Irving, here\u2019s why you\u2019re wrong: He\u2019s negating his role in the vitriol he\u2019s received \u2014 and he\u2019s anticipating receiving \u2014 from the Boston fans. It was Kyrie Irving two years ago \u2014 October 4th if I remember correctly \u2014 Brian Scalabrine [former Celtic] was hosting some event for the Boston Celtics fans,\u201d Smith said. \u201cIt was Kyrie Irving, sitting there next to Gordon Hayward, sitting next to Al Horford at the time \u2026 Kyrie Irving stood up before the crowd and said \u2018I have every intention of re-signing with this team. If you\u2019ll have me.\u2019 And then he got up and left. Might that not have something to do with them disliking you?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cYou are now the enemy because you decided to depart from them to go to another team as a free agent.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Smith acknowledged the history of black players receiving less than stellar \u2014 racist even \u2014 receptions from the passionate Boston sports fans, but he refused to let Irving off the hook.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cSure you can make a case there has been some things that have been spewed in Kyrie\u2019s direction. I have no doubt about it. Racially insensitive, racist even,\u201d Smith continued, \u201cBut that doesn\u2019t speak for the entire city of Boston. And more importantly, I don\u2019t care who you are. You are white, you are black, if you ain\u2019t a Boston Celtic and you\u2019re about to go against the Boston Celtics, whatever they find to talk about you that they believe has the potential to get under your nerves, they will do that.\u201d&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cThis was not the place or the time to bring up that, when there\u2019s a history that shows they\u2019re getting at you, strictly for basketball reasons,\u201d Smith said. \u201cNot because you\u2019re Black!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The Nets and Celtics play game three of their series Friday at 8:30 p.m. EST.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i>Joe Morgan is the Sports Reporter for The Daily Wire. Most recently, Morgan covered the Clippers, Lakers and the NBA for Sporting News. Send your sports questions to <\/i><i>sports@dailywire.com<\/i><i>.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><em>The views expressed in this piece are the author\u2019s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><i>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><i>member<\/i><\/a><i>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Stephen A. Smith of ESPN has a certain way of getting under people\u2019s skin. He\u2019s loud, he\u2019s obnoxious, and my goodness, is he opinionated. His stance on topics ranging from &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2313277,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/GettyImages-1196852558.jpg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"\u2018It\u2019s Not Because You\u2019re Black!\u2019: ESPN\u2019s Stephen A. Smith Blasts Kyrie Irving For Calling Boston Fans \u2018Racist\u2019","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-542962","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/GettyImages-1196852558.jpg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"\u2018It\u2019s Not Because You\u2019re Black!\u2019: ESPN\u2019s Stephen A. Smith Blasts Kyrie Irving For Calling Boston Fans \u2018Racist\u2019","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542962","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=542962"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542962\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2313277"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=542962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=542962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=542962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}