Kenny "The Jet" Smith angered many during the All-Star shootout event between Steph Curry and Sabrina Ionescu at All-Star Weekend in Indianapolis, Indiana on February 17 with comments many felt were misogynistic and disrespectful toward the New York Liberty star. Among those frustrated with Smith's insinuation that Ionescu should've shot from the WNBA's 3-point line instead of the NBA's were Boston Celtics analysts.
Smith's comments didn't highlight Ionescu's impressive 26-point performance after she tied the high score from the men's 3-point shootout.
“She should have shot it from the women’s line,” said Smith (h/t Awful Announcing). “That would have been a fair contest. I still support Sabrina. But she should have shot it from at the women shoot from.”
That brought responses from all over the internet.
"Kenny Smith has been awful tonight," Spotrac's Keith Smith prefaced before saying, "Really, really awful."
"Sucks that Kenny Smith tainted a really special moment in basketball history," CelticsBlog's Noa Dalzell tweeted.
"One of my life goals:
Be better at my job than Kenny Smith is at his," Liberty Ballers' Josh Reynolds prefaced before saying, "The complete downer, negative attitude he had towards honestly the coolest event of the night was such a bummer. No place for this. No shame in being positive. Someone should tell him."
"The absolute condescension dripping off Kenny Smith after Sabrina's performance is so utterly disappointing," USA Today FTW's Caroline Darney wrote. "'I want her to shoot where she shoots from.' Sir, she just tied the number needed to make the NBA three-point contest finals. Thank goodness for Reggie Miller."
All-Star Weekend Saturday falls short with bad-vibes event despite Jaylen Brown's inspiring Slam Dunk Contest showing for Boston Celtics
Jaylen Brown's Terrence Clarke tribute was one of the few feel-good moments of All-Star Weekend's Saturday night despite No. 7 losing to back-to-back winner Mac McClung in the Slam Dunk Competition.
Between Smith's hiccups on commentary and Anthony Edwards making a mockery of the All-Star Skills Challenge, All-Star Weekend's Saturday was a major letdown.
Perhaps major changes are afoot after the backlash it received.