In a surprising twist to one of the NBA’s most public player–media feuds, Stephen A. Smith has emerged as an unlikely defender of Kevin Durant. The two have sparred publicly since 2016, trading pointed criticism and thinly veiled shots across interviews and broadcasts. But Durant’s recent comments on the All-Star Game appear to have shifted the dynamic — at least temporarily.

“Kevin Durant, to be clear, he didn’t lie,” Smith stated on the Stephen A. Smith Show. “He’s just incomplete… When we’ve talked and lamented the state of affairs with NBA All-Star Weekend, we talk about everybody. We don’t differentiate between white and black players. We see everybody on the court lollygagging.”

His comments serve as a backup to Durant’s comments from earlier this week, when he called out a perceived bias in the narrative, highlighting that American players, including him, take the brunt of the criticism about non-competitiveness during the All-Star game, while European players like Nikola Jokic and Luka Doncic get away without competing seriously.

Smith highlighted that American stars set the standard as some of the league’s marquee players and that failing to meet that standard creates a disconnect between viewers and players. He went as far as to suggest that some players put more effort into their summer workouts than they do during All-Star weekend.

“You’re looking at the absence of competition,” Smith added. “That’s what you’re looking at. And there’s just no excuse. You’re literally looking at it, and you’re saying, ‘What possible excuse you could have for that?’… The reality is a lot of people, everybody associated with All-Star Week, have been getting criticized because of the flagrant lack of effort.”

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When Durant left the Oklahoma City Thunder for the Golden State Warriors in 2016, Smith was one of his most vocal critics, repeatedly questioning the move’s competitiveness. Years later, during Durant’s turbulent exit from the Brooklyn Nets, Smith again challenged his leadership publicly. The friction was never subtle.

Which makes their current agreement on the state of the All-Star Game feel less like routine NBA discourse and more like a temporary truce.

Durant Calls Out ‘World Team’ Effort in All-Star Debate, Gets Support From Stephen A. Smith

Kevin Durant‘s original comments about the All-Star situation illustrate what Stephen A. Smith pointed out as well: There’s a complete lack of competition throughout the roster. When asked whether the “old heads” like LeBron James and Stephen Curry would play harder than in previous years, Durant fired back.

“You should ask the Europeans and the World team if they’re going to compete,” Durant said. “If you look at Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic now, let’s go back and look at what they do in the All-Star Game. Is that competition?”

He told the reporter that he could “read between the lines,” mainly when Doncic and Jokic frequently shoot absurd half-courters and fall to the floor in the All-Star game, yet the focus still ended up on players over 37.

His comments also widened the debate over how blame is distributed among stars of different nationalities in the league, and when asked about San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama, who is expected to play hard, Durant said, “We’ll see.”

With the league experimenting with new formats to spark competitiveness, like this year’s USA vs World tournament, Durant had made it clear he remains skeptical. Regardless of who is held accountable, it’s clear that Durant’s comments have touched a nerve.