Latest news with #JayWilliams
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
ESPN's Jay Williams Rips Stephen A. Smith For 'Asinine Comment' on Giannis Antetokounmpo
ESPN's often cartoonish Stephen A. Smith has proven time and again that he will find his way into the news cycle, one way or another, regardless of whether it's for good or for bad. But, ultimately, it's almost always been good from the lens of ESPN, because having Smith in headlines from countless media outlets at a near constant rate has proven to be exceptionally great for business. Advertisement There's a very valid reason the 57-year-old Smith recently signed a monster contract with the "The Worldwide Leader in Sports," inking a $100 million deal that will keep him at ESPN for the next five years. However, there's also a very valid reason that the man who chooses to play solitaire on his phone while in attendance for an intensely pivotal game of the NBA Finals is frequently ripe for loud criticism. And sometimes, even from his own EPSN colleagues. Enter Jay Williams, the former Duke basketball star and regular contributor to First Take, Stephen A. Smith's signature show, who simply could not hold back after Smith rather bizarrely referred to two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo as an "underachiever" during Monday's show. "That was one of your worst takes I've heard in a long time, man," Williams said in response to the "underachiever" comment made by Smith. "That was horrible ... It's always love, but I think we really need to do a better job of reframing some of these conversations." Advertisement "But a guy [Antetokounmpo] who has a 50-point closeout game [in the 2021 NBA Finals]. A guy who's never chased any of these dream team scenarios," Williams continued. "A guy who is a Finals MVP. A guy who is a multi-time All-Star. All-NBA, all-everything, global face of the game. The fact that he brought an NBA championship to Milwaukee, to Milwaukee ... to call him an underachiever I just think is an asinine comment." Williams went on to essentially say that, by Smith's logic, there's an exorbitant number of fellow professional basketball players out there who have seen great success that led to winning an NBA championship, but would still fall under the same bizarre umbrella of "underachieving." Unfortunately for Williams, in what was an otherwise solid and lengthy retort to Smith's click-bait type of claim, Philadelphia 76ers legend Allen Iverson never won an NBA Championship. Yes, Iverson absolutely did carry that 76ers team to the NBA Finals in 2001 against a loaded Los Angeles Lakers team, but he never won a title. Advertisement Nonetheless, Williams calling out Smith in a prolonged rant made for the type of sports entertainment that First Take was designed for, although even ESPN producers opted to drop some "time's up" type of tune at the 2-minute, 16-second mark of the clip. To put the cherry on top of what turned out to be a highly expressive morning for the 43-year-old Williams, he may or may not have purposely dropped a dig at Stephen A. Smith in reference to him apparently never being around. "He's only working nine thousand jobs," Williams said as host Molly Qerim sent First Take to commercial. Related: Travis Kelce Makes Major Physical Change Ahead of NFL Season ESPN's Jay Williams Rips Stephen A. Smith For 'Asinine Comment' on Giannis Antetokounmpo first appeared on Men's Journal on Jun 16, 2025
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
‘You couldn't pay us enough': Stephen A. Smith relays Rockets' response to Ime Udoka rumor
The New York Knicks reportedly have interest in hiring Rockets head coach Ime Udoka, but Udoka remains under contract with Houston for multiple future seasons. Coming off a season with the NBA's fourth-best record and a young and improving roster, the Rockets like the course they're on. Moreover, Udoka finished third in 2024-25 NBA Coach of the Year voting. So, there's not much incentive for Houston — even if offered lucrative compensation — to consider letting Udoka out of his contract to speak with the Knicks. Advertisement Per ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith, who happens to be a longtime Knicks fan, that's the message he's seemingly heard from Houston. On Tuesday's First Take, Smith said: Ime Udoka is one of the best coaches in the NBA. This brother is something better. When Jay Williams brought up about the New York Knicks reaching out to Houston, I got a text. 'You don't have enough,' they said. 'You couldn't pay us enough.' Ime Udoka ain't going anywhere, I got that text message, he's not going anywhere. And damn right, they should hold onto him for dear life. Smith's complete comments on Udoka and the Rockets can be viewed below. In recent days, the Knicks have seemingly shifted their focus to Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd, who does appear to have some level of interest in the New York vacancy. It is possible that New York's interest could be leveraged by Udoka and his representation in upcoming negotiations with the Rockets, who are likely planning to give him a contract extension by the 2026 offseason at the latest (his current deal will end after the 2026-27 season). Stay tuned! Advertisement More: Reports: With sudden coaching vacancy, Knicks intrigued by Houston's Ime Udoka This article originally appeared on Rockets Wire: 'You couldn't pay us enough': Rockets on Knicks, Ime Udoka rumor
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
"Don't settle for passing the ball and getting people involved" - Jay Williams urges Tyrese Haliburton to be more selfish vs. Thunder
"Don't settle for passing the ball and getting people involved" - Jay Williams urges Tyrese Haliburton to be more selfish vs. Thunder originally appeared on Basketball Network. Tyrese Haliburton has been the talk of the 2025 NBA playoffs because of his incredible shot-making late in games. With four improbable game-winners this postseason, many have started talking about Haliburton as one of the best clutch shooters in the league. Advertisement But while no one is questioning Haliburton's clutch gene, ESPN's Jay Williams called out the Indiana Pacers guard for waiting for crucial moments to unleash his offense. According to Williams, if the Pacers want to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2025 NBA Finals, Haliburton must be aggressive from the start and maintain his appetite for scoring throughout the entire game. "Haliburton can close games, but champions open the game with intent and they set the tone; they don't just react to it… I need him to look at the rim at the beginning of the game," he said. The Pacers win when Hali scores big The Pacers are 32-3 this season, including 7-0 in the playoffs when Haliburton scores more than 20 points. Advertisement In Game 1 of the series against the Thunder, he only scored 14 points and took 13 shots. But the game-winning jumper overshadowed everything. "I know that they got one on the road, but you can make a case that if he didn't hit that game-winner after Game 1, we'd be talking about the same tone. He wasn't aggressive. And this Indiana team is better when he comes out and attacks; just don't settle for passing the ball and getting people involved," Williams said on ESPN's "Get Up" program. Going into the fourth quarter of Game 2, Haliburton only had five points on 2-7 shooting in 26 minutes of action. He scored 12 points in the first eight minutes of the final period to try to rally his team, but by then, the Thunder were already comfortably ahead, and his points were meaningless. Advertisement Related: Shaq still doesn't want to put Haliburton among the best clutch performers: "I'm not ready to be like, 'He's the next Reggie Miller" Now is the time to be selfish Meanwhile, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been the opposite. He scored 19 points in the first half of Game 1 and finished with 38. The 2025 NBA MVP had 15 points on 11 shots in the first half of Game 2 and was clearly the aggressor from start to finish. Through the first two games of the Finals series, Gilgeous-Alexander has already taken 51 field goal attempts, almost twice as many as Haliburton. But some of that has to do with the team's offensive philosophies. Advertisement While Gilgeous-Alexander is the focal point of the Thunder's offense, Indiana's randomness allows anybody on the floor to lead the team in scoring. Some nights, that's Pascal Siakam. Other times, Myles Turner, Aaron Nesmith and Andrew Nembhard have big scoring games, and Haliburton has been more than willing to let his teammates shine. Still, if there is a time to be selfish, it would be in the NBA Finals, especially given how much credit Haliburton deserves for the Pacers' unexpected run. Playmaking is great. Setting up teammates is amazing. Pushing the pace and always looking for an open man is what basketball is all about. But at this point in the season, the Pacers might need their star player to be more of a scorer. Related: "I think Indiana wins Game 3"- Isiah Thomas issues bold prediction as the 2025 NBA Finals shift to "The Hoosier State" This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jun 10, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
07-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Stephen A. Smith Criticizes Tyrese Haliburton: "Just Because You Show Up In Clutch Moments Doesn't Make You A Superstar"
Tyrese Haliburton nailed a clutch buzzer-beater to send the Knicks vs Pacers Game 1 into overtime. The Pacers rallied back from a 14-point deficit in the final 2:30 of the game to eventually win it in overtime. Stephen A. Smith has been vocal in his support for the Knicks for a very long time. After the Pacers stole Game 1 in Madison Square Garden, Smith went on his show to make a bold assertion about Haliburton. Jay Williams and Monica McNutt appeared alongside Stephen A. Smith on ESPN's First Take show, where in a segment, they discussed whether Haliburton has qualified to be a superstar in the NBA yet. Williams and McNutt essentially agreed however, Smith profusely refused. Advertisement He said, "You're both wrong, I'm not agreeing with you on this at all. And I don't have to worry about how, you know, folks are coming late to the party. I wanted the Knicks to draft Haliburton; remember that I wanted them to draft Haliburton instead of Obi Toppin. I think he's a damn good player, I think that he's a star in this league, but superstar status is reserved for the select few and I don't view him that way. However, and I know that he shows up in the clutch moment, he deserves our credit, he's a big-time player, I like him a lot. I've always said that, so I don't have to worry about how I'm being perceived in terms of what I've had to say about him because I've always celebrated him.' Smith further added, 'Having said all of that, I'm going to sit up there, M&M and Jay, and look at y'all like this, you're talking about big shots, right? And you're talking about how big shots qualify you as a star. Was Robert Horry a superstar? Nobody hit more big shots than that…what I'm saying is in terms of the big shots, I'm talking about the big shots, what you said about big-time shot-making. I'm saying when you bring up somebody that's got about seven rings, when you bring up the Chauncey Billups' of the world who hit big shots and stuff like that, there have been plenty of people throughout NBA history that were really damn good and hit big time shots. But they still weren't labeled a superstar, so just because you show up in the clutch and you make big shots doesn't make you a superstar, that is my point … The brother is a star, people who labeled him overrated were just hating, they should be ashamed of themselves. When I think superstar, I'm thinking Steph, I'm thinking LeBron, I'm thinking people like I'm thinking Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.' Stephen A. has very cleverly tried to disguise his criticism by saying he's a star player but not yet a superstar. However, it seems that Smith's opinion is slightly biased due to his team suffering from the actions of Haliburton and is stuck with the old school notions of what it means to be a superstar. Advertisement Haliburton has averaged 18.7 points, 9.5 assists, and 5.4 rebounds in 11 games in this season's Playoffs. In my opinion, Haliburton has qualified for the superstar status after carrying a team like the Pacers to the ECF two seasons in a row. Related: "People Might Think I'm Aura Farming": Tyrese Haliburton Feels He "Wasted" The Reggie Miller Celebration
Yahoo
01-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
This Week in Connecticut: Hartford organization donated $44 million last year
HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — Philanthropy in 2025, where does it stand? Dennis talks with Jay Williams of the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving about the organization's charitable work last year on This Week in Connecticut. Watch above. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
