The Phoenix Suns have fallen short of expectations on every front. Stephen A Smith is making that claim be heard, loud and clear. Following the Suns’ historically embarrassing loss to the Houston Rockets, Smith took to X (formerly Twitter) and shared his gut-wrenching opinion.
“And btw……I’m still speechless as to how awful @Suns this year,” the post reads. “I mean, Damn! No sense of pride whatsoever. The @HoustonRockets are real. Especially defensively.
“But they’ve got the @Suns looking like they want no part of being on the court. I’ve got to look at Coach Budenholzer. The players are not buying in. Change has to come in Phoenix. I’ve seen enough.”
Sunday’s game was an amalgamation of everything that has gone wrong. From benchings, trade rumors, and injuries, Phoenix has been stung by every bug someone can think of.
Still, these are NBA players. There has to be a level of care and enthusiasm on the court. Despite the Suns riding a four-game winning streak, they fell back to their old ways.
Being lazy on defense, not getting back in transition, and just looking deflated is a recipe for disaster. Most notably, Kevin Durant left the Suns game with an ankle injury.
He was officially ruled out due to a left ankle sprain. That signaled the beginning of the end for the game. However, it might’ve signaled the beginning of the end on their season.
Stephen A Smith calls out the Suns’ effort vs the Rockets
Effort shouldn’t be something that players have to be asked to have. It should be a constant. However, head coach Mike Budenholzer has repeatedly asked throughout the season for more enthusiasm.
While he’s taken the flack for a loss, at some point, it has to come back to the players. You can’t coach effort in the NBA, or any sport. It has to be given on a nightly basis.
Still, there might be more going on behind the scenes that isn’t being revealed. After all, Budenholzer and Devin Booker had an interaction where the head coach told Booker to “tone it down, vocally.”
Although the two cleared the air on that rumor, that’s only a fraction of what has occurred. Not to mention, the Rockets are not known for their high-octane offense.
They are much more of a defensively-oriented team. Still, the task proved far too big to handle for the Suns. As they get ready to hit the road, they will be without Durant for at least Tuesday’s game.
Playing without arguably their best player could invoke more effort. However, Smith feels there should be a high level of effort, regardless of what has transpired in Phoenix.
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