Stephen A. Smith Rips Kenny Atkinson After Bizarre Comments

Stephen A. Smith absolutely tore apart Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson after Cleveland fell into a shocking 0-3 hole against the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals.

The criticism came after Atkinson made a bizarre postgame comment following Game 3, suggesting the Cavaliers were somehow winning the series “analytically” despite being on the verge of elimination.

“I think analytically, we’ve won two out of three in the expected score,” Atkinson told reporters Sunday. “I don’t know if you guys follow that, the expected score. And I know you’re looking confused.”

The comments quickly exploded across social media, with many fans and analysts mocking the idea of discussing advanced metrics while trailing 0-3 in the conference finals.

Smith didn’t hold back while reacting to Atkinson’s remarks and even suggested comments like that could cost coaches their jobs.

“That moment right there, that is why Kenny Atkinson deserves to be an assistant coach,” Smith said during Monday’s episode of ESPN’s First Take. “Now obviously I’m being facetious… For any coach to have that come out of their mouth, it’s egregious.”

Smith then went deeper into his frustration with how analytics continue to dominate conversations around basketball decision-making.

“Numbers do matter, they play a significant role… let’s stop acting like this is new,” Smith continued. “What’s new is the focus that has been placed on it in terms of justification for hiring certain dudes to run your franchise.

“People like him give you the impression that as long as the numbers say something, they’re good. You are down three to nothing in a conference finals. You walked in four games away from a championship appearance and now you’re on the verge of getting swept and what comes out of your mouth [is that].

“That’s the certain kind of stuff… there are some [owners] out there that would have the pink slip ready for him the second they lose tonight just because of stuff like that. You can’t say that, you just can’t.”