Nigerian Basketball Federation Slams American Sport Commentator, Stephen A. Smith For Butchering Names Of Nigerian Players Following US Loss

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Nigerian Basketball Federation Slams American Sport Commentator, Stephen A. Smith For Butchering Names Of Nigerian Players Following US LossNigerian Basketball Federation (NBBF) has slammed American sport commentator, Stephen A. Smith for butchering the names of Nigerian players following their exhibition win against Team USA on Saturday.

Nigeria shockingly defeated Team USA 90-87 in Las Vegas on Saturday night, which led to various reactions and criticisms.

Read Also: Nigeria’s D’Tigers Defeat United States Basketball Team

Americans are favorites to win a Gold medal at Olympics in Tokyo later this month, and the defeat to Nigeria was only the team’s third exhibition loss since 1992.

Reacting to US loss, the ESPN sport commentator while speaking mispronounced the names of Nigerian players, which many claimed to be an intentional attempt to belittle the team.

In a video of himself speaking, Smith said;

There’s no excuse to lose to Nigeria. [To lose to] some dude Gabe Nnamdi, who goes by Gabe Vincent for the Miami Heat. Or Caleb Agada. Or Nma … however the hell you pronounce his name.

However, Nigerian team and many of its players got offended with the way Smith went about his criticism — including the way he pronounced their names.

Reacting on Monday night, June 12, the Nigerian Basketball Federation condemned Smithwriting;

You can lament your loss without slandering the players who gave blood and sweat to grind out a win. Put some respect to their names.

Nigerian team and many of its players also took to Twitter to slam Smith for his take shortly after he posted the video of himself.

Smith’s video marked the second offensive and wild rant the ESPN personality made on Monday, following a xenophobic rant about Japanese Los Angeles Angels baseball star, Shohei Ohtani.

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