VIDEO: Stephen A Smith Calls Out Kevin Durant for Throwing Shade at Kendrick Perkins

A lot has been made of Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving’s comments that he would be willing to give up everything -- very much including playing basketball -- in order to pursue social reform. One of the notable critics that has stepped up and pushed back against Irving as a result? Former NBA champion big man Kendrick Perkins. After former teammate Kevin Durant called him a “sellout” on Instagram, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith went on to call out KD.

Smith makes a good point here. Durant is an intelligent man who always has a sense of being socially conscious, and Perkins has every right to disagree with Irving’s viewpoint regarding the NBA season's intended restart. If Durant wants to do the same, then he is perfectly allowed to do so- but simply referring to Perk as a sellout is not helping to engage in deeper conversation.

In addition to Durant’s comments, Nets teammate Wilson Chandler also called out Perkins’ disagreement with Kyrie.

It is clear that Irving’s teammates are going to ride with him no matter what. While Perkins tends to be in search of the hot take, he expressed his reasoning for why he believes Kyrie is in the wrong. If Durant cannot respect that, then there is a bigger problem at hand here.