Stephen A. Smith compares hockey’s "intensity" to NBA and fans weigh in on the rivalry issue

TOI Sports Desk / TIMESOFINDIA.COM / Feb 22, 2025, 00:28 IST

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Team Canada won the 4 Nations Face Off against Team USA, with Sidney Crosby receiving praise for his performance. ESPN’s Stephen A Smith highlighted the game's intensity and compared it to the NBA, noting a lack of rivalries in basketball. Fans agreed, saying the NBA lacks the personality and excitement found in hockey.

Stephen A. Smith compares hockey’s "intensity" to NBA and fans weigh in on the rivalry issue

Image via Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty

Team Canada proved their worth as they finally won the 4 Nations Face Off against Team USA last night. Sidney Crosby, the captain of Team Canada, is being hailed as a hero by fans due to his impressive performance yesterday. But ESPN’s broadcaster Stephen A Smith has brought in a new perspective to how hockey is perceived in the country as compared to the NBA.

Stephen A Smith Talks About “Healthy Hostility” In Hockey And Why Fans Are Hooked To It

In a recent video posted by ESPN’s First Take, Stephen A Smith says, “I’m on a plane flying out West from the East coast yesterday okay. And I’m very very lucky to have a lot of televisions on the jet. So I'm sitting up there and I get up, you know gotta stretch, cant just be sitting there for six hours. And I’m going up and down, just walking you know…let the blood circulate. And I’m looking and every single TV had the hockey game on”.

Stephen A Smith then goes on to speak about how the game was not the reason why everyone was hooked to their TV screens as his flight flew to the West from the East Coast yesterday. As per him, it was because of the “intensity of the moment”. He also highlighted how newly elected president Donald Trump wished the Team USA before the match began and how Justin Trudeau “clapped back” at Team USA.
These events led to a “healthy hostility” between the two teams and the fans of the two teams; something that as per Stephen A Smith is completely missing from the NBA currently and fans are also agreeing with Stephen A Smith’s controversial opinion.

A fan wrote, “True! NBA doesn’t have any rivalry nowadays 🤦‍♂️”, while another fan wrote, “The NBA is a league that built itself on personality. That is wonderful… when that had personalities. These guys are boring now. So it suffers”.
A third fan wrote, “Hockey honors history, revels legacy, relinquishes self for team . The today NBA cares of self and that’s why they are in state they are in but they don’t care.”
NBA players are yet to respond to Stephen A Smith’s controversial comments.
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TOI Sports Desk

The TOI Sports Desk excels in a myriad of roles that capture the essence of live sporting events and deliver compelling content to readers worldwide. From running live blogs for India and non-India cricket matches to global spectacles featuring Indian talents, like the Chess World Cup final featuring Praggnanandhaa and the Badminton World Championships semifinal featuring HS Prannoy, our live coverage extends to all mega sporting events. We extensively cover events like the Olympics, Asian Games, Cricket World Cups, FIFA World Cups, and more. The desk is also adept at writing comprehensive match reports and insightful post-match commentary, complemented by stats-based articles that provide an in-depth analysis of player performances and team dynamics. We track news wires for key stories, conduct exclusive player interviews in both text and video formats, and file content from print editions and reporters. We keep track of all viral stories, trending topics and produce our own copies on the subjects. We deliver accurate, engaging, and up-to-the-minute sports content, round the clock.

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