"Just lazy, ignorant": NBA fans go off at Stephen A. Smith for nonchalantly refusing to pronounce Chimezie Metu's name

Stephen A Smith drew the ire of a national basketball federation for refusing to mention Chimezie Metu's name during the halftime break of the Christmas night game between Metu's Phoenix Suns and the Dallas Mavericks. Some Nigerian NBA fans were also upset with Smith.

The Nigeria Basketball Federation first called out Smith in a tweet where they reshared a clip in which he was heard saying,

"Their leading scorer is a name that... I'll not pronounce it."

The NBF felt disrespected by what Smith said and even tagged him and ESPN, the NBA Christmas Day games' official broadcaster, in their tweet, saying,

"Stephen A. Smith disrespecting our names once again. Chimezie Metu is not difficult to pronounce if you take the time to learn it. Please do better, [ESPN, Stephen A. Smith]."

The NBF then resurfaced an old tweet from 2021 where Smith simply said, "How the hell do you pronounce his name?" when he was discussing Nigeria's pre-Tokyo Olympics friendly win against Team USA on First Take.

NBF called Smith's analysis as such:

"A one-minute clip with no basketball analysis and pure disrespect to the names of our culture."

One fan, a certain Daddy Mo, replied to the NBF's tweet that Smith just did not bother mentioning Metu's name at all:

"It’s not even a difficult name to pronounce. He’s just lazy and ignorant for not even trying to pronounce it. A damn shame."

Some other fans agreed.

Since it is already Dec. 26 or Boxing Day in the Eastern Hemisphere, one fan thinks Metu might knock Smith out if he sees the video:

"What a “Boxing Day” this will be. [Violence] once Naija wakes up."

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Chimezie Metu's impressive game not enough for Phoenix Suns

Chimezie Metu had himself a Christmas to remember for the Phoenix Suns. He had 23 points, 19 rebounds, two assists and one steal off the bench.

However, neither Metu's near 20-20 nor Grayson Allen's 32-point blast was enough to give the Suns a huge Christmas night win against the Dallas Mavericks.

Luka Doncic fired 50 points on 15-of-25 field goals, including 8-of-16 from deep, six rebounds, 15 assists, four steals and three blocks to lead the Dallas Mavericks to the huge road win in Phoenix.