CALLING FOUL Golden State’s Steve Kerr takes ‘direct shot at Stephen A. Smith’ over ‘sickening’ Steph Curry and Lebron James comments

Stephen A. Smith recently said Curry was ‘required to have some (leadership) and he’s required to display some’

GOLDEN State Warriors coach Steve Kerr has seemingly laid into First Take’s Stephen A. Smith in a recent press conference.

Smith openly questioned Warriors star Steph Curry’s leadership following his teammate Draymond Green’s third ejection of the season on Tuesday.

Steve Kerr has called out ‘sickening’ criticism of Steph Curry Credit: NBC Sports

X users were quick to suggest Kerr’s comments were aimed at Stephen A. SmithCredit: Getty

Appearing on the popular ESPN show, Smith said: “I understand that Steph Curry is not a vocal leader. I get that.

“But if this were LeBron James, if this were a teammate of LeBron James, if this were a teammate of LeBron James, we’d be all over LeBron James.

“‘Where’s the leadership? Where’s he at? What kind of impact is he having?’

“I don’t think we should be holding Steph Curry to lesser standards.”

Smith went on to add that he felt Curry was “required to have some (leadership) and he’s required to display some.”

And while he insisted that neither Curry nor Kerr should be blamed for Green’s latest incident, he said: “There is no doubt that organizationally, especially when it comes to the coach and star player, that it appears to be that more should have been done.”

Speaking to the media on Thursday evening, Kerr seemingly fired back at Curry’s critics with a vengeance and users on X, formerly known as Twitter, were quick to suggest his comments were aimed at Smith.

“Steph is as good of a leader as I’ve ever been around,” Kerr said.

“The guy is an amazing human being. And what he’s done the past decade in leading this team through all of the ups and then the downs and the turmoil.

“For anybody to question Steph Curry’s leadership, it’s actually kind of sickening to me. And I saw some of it yesterday. It was disgusting.”

As a result of the ejection, which came after he appeared to strike Phoenix Suns star Jusuf Nurkic in the face, the NBA suspended Green indefinitely on Wednesday.

This marked Green’s second suspension of the season, and his sixth since entering the league in 2012.

Speaking on this brutal suspension, Kerr said it “makes sense” to him.

He went on to add: “To me, this is about more than basketball. It’s about helping Draymond.

“I think it’s an opportunity for Draymond to step away and to make a change in his approach, in his life. And that’s not an easy thing to do.”

Kerr went on to add: “The one who choked Rudy [Gobert], who took a wild flail at Jusuf, who punched Jordan [Poole] last year, that’s the guy who has to change.”

Curry was described by Kerr as ‘as good of a leader as I’ve ever been around’Credit: AP