"Maybe I am showing my age" - Stephen A. Smith goes on epic rant calling NBA 'soft', cites Anthony Edwards' example

NBA analyst Stephen A. Smith went on another trademark rant. This time he went after the league he holds dearly, the NBA. He called the league’s current rules and refs “soft”. He clarified that he was not calling the players soft but the league.

Smith made a few qualifiers as usual. However, he did not mince words when going off on his opinion about the recent Draymond Green suspension following his involvement in the altercation between the Golden State Warriors and Minnesota Timberwolves.

“Now maybe I am showing my age here. Maybe I am showing my detachment from today’s youth. This soft as Cottonelle tissue that the league has turned itself into, maybe that’s my issue,” he was quoted as saying during the Stephen A. Smith Show.

Smith criticized the league for its harsh penalties. This came after multiple players, including Klay Thompson and Green, were immediately ejected following a scuffle within the first minutes of the Warriors and Timberwolves game.

Smith criticized Green’s action but did not think he deserved a lengthy suspension. The NBA served the Warriors forward with a five-game ban. He said the punishment was excessive and people were overreacting to Green’s headlock on Rudy Gobert.

Smith thinks the league is not letting the players play. He emphasized that the rules are too soft and the players are not the issue.

“Now I am not calling the players soft. I am calling the league in terms of the rules they have imposed on the players, where damn it, you might get ejected for looking at a player wrong,” Stephen A. Smith said.

Stephen A. Smith calls out NBA ref decision ft. Anthony Edwards

Stephen A. Smith went further on his rant. He criticized other NBA ref decisions. He called out the officials who recently gave Anthony Edwards a technical foul after his recent dunk on Dario Saric against the Warriors.

“Think about the tech Anthony Edwards received the other day in Minnesota when he dunked on somebody and screamed and then stared at him. He got T’d up for something like that,” Stephen A. Smith said.

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The NBA has taken an extra step to crack down on taunting during games. They also suspend players for coming off the bench during skirmishes. Green was likely punished a bit extra given his reputation and previous behavior.

Green has been suspended five times during his NBA career. He was most recently suspended for one game after stomping on Domantas Sabonis in the playoffs last season. He also was suspended for Game 5 of the 2016 NBA Finals after hitting LeBron James in the groin.