UPDATED 4/5, 10:35 a.m. ET: Kevin Durant commented on Stephen A. Smith being fooled by a fake report from Ballsack Sports.
“Damn steve. Got ya ass,” Durant tweeted above a clip of Smith citing the fake report.
See original story below.
Stephen A. Smith is the latest ESPN personality who’s been duped by a fake report from Ballsack Sports, an NBA-focused satire account on Twitter.
Back in February, Ballsack Sports shared a fake story detailing how Kyrie Irving talked trash to James Harden in practice while the two were teammates in Brooklyn, jokingly citing a “Brooklyn Nets executive on the growing rift between Kyrie and Harden.”
“Kyrie beat James Harden 1 on 1 almost everyday in practice, and Kyrie was barely even in basketball shape,” the fake report read. “It demoralized Harden...the breaking point came when Kyrie called Harden ‘washed’ after completely locking him up in one scrimmage. An assistant had to break up the two as tempers flared, and the relationship spiraled downhill from there.”
On Monday’s episode of First Take, Smith seemingly referenced the tweet during a segment on Harden’s recent struggles.
“Especially when Kyrie looked him in the face according to reports and told him he’s washed up. He said that to him. That’s part of the reason they had a falling out in Brooklyn,” Smith said.
In Stephen A.’s defense, he isn’t the first ESPN host who’s been duped by Ballsack Sports’ satirical report.
Back in March, NBA analyst Kendrick Perkins cited the story while breaking down the Nets’ dominant win over the Sixers.
“All those rumors and stories that we heard about Kyrie and James Harden in practice with the Nets, and Kyrie going at him. Guess what? Kyrie showed us last night that those were facts and that was true!” Perkins said.
