Stephen A. Smith gives Knicks ‘zero chance’ at winning championship

The New York Knicks can take it easy in Game 6 against the Indiana Pacers, because Stephen A. Smith says they have no chance of beating the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Finals.

Thursday night was a fun moment for Knicks fans. They got to witness the Knicks win an Eastern Conference Finals game at Madison Square Garden for the first time in a quarter-century. The win even sparked dreams of coming back from a 3-1 series hole against Indiana to see New York advance to the NBA Finals. But why bother trying to punch that ticket, just for the right to lose to the Thunder?

“I give them zero chance. Zero. Of beating the Oklahoma City Thunder if they were to advance to the Finals,” Smith confidently said Friday morning on First Take. “Days ago, I’m like, ‘Hey, we got a chance.’ And then I watched OKC, having to cover the Western Conference Finals and I see those bodies that they throw.

“Then I see the New York Knicks’ style of play and the lack of personnel, and you just see it in the way Oklahoma City defends. And that has taken some of the luster off my championship aspirations for the New York Knicks.

“Getting there, I’m all for it. But I would have to cover an NBA Finals where I’m a New York Knick fan and I literally believe from the bottom of my heart that nothing short of divine intervention would propel them.”

Stephen A. Smith is not exactly rallying the fanbase with that speech the way Pat McAfee did for the Indiana Pacers earlier this week, but hey, thanks for the honesty.

The Thunder won 68 games and have been widely praised for having one of the greatest seasons in the history of the NBA. That’s one that seems likely to end with the franchise’s first championship since 1979, when they were the Seattle SuperSonics.

The Knicks overcoming a 3-1 series deficit against the Pacers and winning the NBA Finals against Oklahoma City probably isn’t going to happen. But a zero percent chance? Did Smith have to be so performative that he couldn’t even give the Knicks a fraction of one percent?

Getting to the Finals is still a long shot for the Knicks. But if they get there, they will have a better than zero percent chance of winning. Players go through shooting slumps, injuries happen. Hey, maybe the referees can prove one of Bill Simmons’ conspiracy theories to be true by fixing a game or two.

No one thought the Knicks could beat the Celtics, until they did. And it’s silly to say they would have a zero percent chance of winning against Oklahoma City. But let’s see them get there first.