Suns owner Mat Ishbia has strong response to Stephen A. Smith’s insulting claim

During a press conference held on Thursday, Ishbia was asked to share his thoughts on Smith’s incendiary claim. Ishbia completely dismissed Smith’s take and even predicted that the ESPN personality would apologize sometime in the future.

“Stephen A. Smith, I don’t take much of what he says seriously,” said Ishbia. “I don’t think many people do, to be honest with you. … I don’t really think Stephen A. believes that. I think he’s doing his thing, he’s on the mic. I think he’ll apologize to me because it’s disrespectful to put my name aligned with anyone who was kicked out of the league or no longer part of it.”

Ishbia’s three-year run with the Suns has been an utter disaster. The billionaire businessman pushed for Phoenix to make win-now moves over the last three seasons, acquiring Kevin Durant and later Bradley Beal.

Beal, whose no-trade clause became a huge talking point this season, has regressed significantly on the court, while Durant could end up on the trading block this offseason. The future has dimmed significantly for a Suns team that’s a few years removed from making the NBA Finals.

But despite all of that, there’s hardly an argument for Ishbia to be atop the list of worst owners in NBA history. Former Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling, who was banned from the NBA in 2014, has Ishbia beat by a significant margin.

Ishbia may not even be the worst owner in Suns franchise history, given the wild reports on Robert Sarver’s tenure with the team.

Smith has built a career off of his sensationalized takes, such as the one about Ishbia. While Ishbia is indeed worthy of criticism, calling him the “worst owner in basketball history” is a bit much.