Stephen A. Smith Torches Draymond Green In Attempt To 'Motivate'

Stephen A. Smith is attempting to use his voice for more than the usual hot take or debate ensuing opinion. ESPN's lightning rod of controversy is now seeking to motivate through his words. More specifically, he's trying to light a fire under Golden State's Draymond Green.

The outspoken Warriors forward had just two points and fouled out during Wednesday night's crucial Game Three of the NBA Finals. His performance - or lack of one - prompted Smith to do his best Tony Robbins impersonation.

“What the hell was that, Draymond? We’ve got to stop this nonsense right now,” Smith said Thursday during an episode of ESPN's First Take. “This is a motivational speech."

Smith felt so strongly about his aspirations to motivate, that he tweeted out the clip of himself attempting to motivate. In the Twittersphere, this would be the equivalent of speaking in the third-person.

After declaring his intentions to motivate, Smith continued, making sure this shouldn't be viewed as criticism, though it clearly is: "This is not criticizing Draymond Green. This is motivation my brother. Two points. Two damn points. All of that talk and then two points.”

When mentioning "that talk," Smith was referencing Green's comments from earlier in the week when he suggested players from the '80s and '90s weren't nearly as physical as those playing today. He backed up that talk with a near goose egg as the Boston crowd bullied Green with chants of "F*ck you, Draymond," much to the dissatisfaction of Green's wife and teammate Klay Thompson.



Now Smith is calling on Green to clap back, mainly by contributing more than two points, which he's done twice in three games.

“Two damn points against the Boston Celtics! That’s two games, Dray,” Smith added via First Take. “One game where you admitted you wasn’t yourself, Game One. Game Three (on Wednesday) you said you played like you (shit). Are you ready for someone to look at you and say, ‘Draymond Green, you are on the verge of costing the Golden State Warriors two titles?”

After all that, I sense a motivational breakthrough.

Follow along on Twitter: @OhioAF