ESPN host Max Kellerman.
On Wednesday afternoon, Andrew Marchand of the New York Post reported that Max Kellerman will be leaving his role opposite of Stephen A. Smith on First Take and take on new responsibilities at ESPN. Just a few hours later, one of the host’s most outlandish takes started to circulate around social media.
Back in 2019, as a banged-up Golden State Warriors team played Kawhi Leonard and the Toronto Raptors in the NBA Finals, Kellerman and Smith discussed the important storylines of the series. One of the topics that came up was which member of the Warriors should take an open shot with the game on the line.
With Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant sidelined by injuries, the clear (and only) answer was Steph Curry. However, Kellerman stirred up controversy when he named Andre Iguodala as the player he would want to take the shot.
“Of everyone on Golden State, open shot, fate of the universe on the line, the martians have the death beam pointed at Earth, you better hit it… I want Iguodala,” Kellerman proclaimed, much to the surprise of his fellow hosts and the live studio audience.
“That’s right. And I know what that sounds like and it’s not fair to Steph because so much defensive attention is paid to him. And I’m not saying Steph’s not a better shooter, he’s a way better shooter. But, Iguodala’s got ice water in his veins.
Although Kellerman clearly wanted to go against the popular stance, Curry was the clear and obvious answer to the question.
During the 2018-19 regular season, the sharpshooter connected on 43.7 percent of his three-point attempts and averaged 27.3 points per game. Iguodala, although a great defensive player and key part of the Warriors three championships last decade, shot 33.3 percent from beyond the arc and averaged just 5.2 points per game.
With the Warriors two other stars sidelined, Curry stepped up and proved himself as the team’s most important player just two days after Kellerman’s rant.
He scored 47 points, eight rebounds and seven assists as Golden State fell in Game 3, 123-109. Iguodala scored 11 points in 31 minutes.
If all of those numbers don’t convince you that Kellerman’s choice of Iguodala is ridiculous, the 2015 Finals MVP himself said that he shouldn’t get the ball over Curry.
“He crazy,” Iquodala said to host Molly Qerim Rose when Kellerman explained his take a few weeks later.
Now that Kellerman is departing First Take, fans won’t get to hear him and Smith go back and forth on every weekday morning.
However, viewers should still get a chance to see him on ESPN.
According to Marchand, Kellerman “is likely to have an increased role on ESPN Radio and potentially his own TV show.”
That means, we probably won’t have to wait too long to hear another one of his ridiculous rants.
