Stephen A. Smith Rips Suns Coach, Stars

Stephen A. Smith expects more from the Phoenix Suns.

Mar 2, 2024; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant (35) and Phoenix Suns guard / Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

PHOENIX -- It's no secret the Phoenix Suns have underachieved this season.

With just eight games remaining, the Suns are battling to get out of play-in tournament territory despite possessing a championship-winning coach in Frank Vogel on top of stars such as Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal and Devin Booker.

Fans have voiced their displeasure. Us in the local media have written ad nauseam about it, and now one of the big dogs of the sports world has chimed in.

The often loud and proud Stephen A. Smith appeared on ESPN's First Take with Tim Legler and Shannon Sharpe discussing the Suns' lack of success this season:

"There's a couple of people to point the finger at, first of all I'm going to look at Frank Vogel because Tim Legler, you know this: in the fourth quarter they have been highly suspect, particularly defensively. We can't ignore that," said Smith.

"Number two, you got Jusuf Nurkic. And again, he's not Deandre Ayton - you can actually trust and rely upon him. I'm not trying to throw shade on Deandre Ayton, but he wasn't happy in Phoenix. He was a bit temperamental to say the least some days. Some nights he showed up, some nights he didn't. He wasn't reliable in that regard. But Nurkic is. In terms of who he is: whatever he is, he is, you see what I'm saying? You don't have to worry about his temperament getting in the way. The game is either there or it's not, but you don't have to worry about stuff in terms of his personality and all of that stuff getting in the way, right? So if you know you've got that person to rely upon - just being a big body that can go out there and give you a little points, give you some productivity rebounding-wise, then that's less for you to have to be worried about.

"If you're Frank Vogel you got to figure things out defensively. That's the reason you're a head coach in the NBA. You're not the head coach because of your offensive brilliance as a mastermind on the offensive side of the ball. You're there because of what you did in Indiana defensively. What you did in Los Angeles defensively. What the hell is going on with the Phoenix Suns? So we got to look at it from that perspective. I'm looking at Beal, Booker and KD together - when they played in games together their record's 21-13. I'm sorry, I expected better than that. All three of y'all in the lineup, what's 21-13? I mean damn, just eight games above .500, you can't do better than that? I think you should. That's number three.

"Number four. Shannon, Legs knows how I feel about Devin Booker. I don't know if you know, I've often used the analogy he's Kobe-esque. I love this brother. I'm one of the biggest fans in the world of Devin Booker. This brother is the truth okay? He is something special and got the game and got the attitude that goes with it and doesn't shrink in big moments. He might be more effective than he is at other times, but it isn't because he's shrinking and wiltering beneath the pressure, it's either your shot's falling or it's not, but he doesn't have any lack of confidence. He continues to come at you.

"KD can we see that please? You are two-time champion. You are two-time NBA Finals MVP. ... This is your team, you understand? It's Devin Booker's team too, but you KD, you the champion. You the two-time NBA Finals MVP. You one of the greatest scorers in NBA history. What's up with this? Bradley Beal, really nice to see you in a playoff kind of atmosphere because God knows it's been a long time since the nation's capital has had that to enjoy. So you being in this situation, we'd expect more from you too."

The Suns are 44-31 and host the Cleveland Cavaliers next on Wednesday.