TRAITOR
Stephen A. Smith labels Chris ‘Mad Dog’ Russo ‘a traitor’ and accuses him of ‘treason’ over USA basketball opinion
Team USA beat Paris in a thrilling game for the gold medal
CHRIS "Mad Dog" Russo brought an insanely hot take to First Take's live taping at Fanatics Fan Fest in New York City.
The cast of Molly Qerim, Stephen A. Smith, and Russo all sat in front of a live crowd, and Russo had something strange to say about Team USA basketball.
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Russo shared that he wasn't that excited about the win because it wasn't meant to be a close game.
He cited the fact that Team USA has won multiple Olympic tournaments in a row and that they were big favorites to win the game.
"Not a question of not being impressed," Mad Dog said.
"They've won a million of these things since the beginning of time, they lost the one year in Athens when they were terrible and won the bronze medal.
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"Other than that they've dominated everybody. I'm supposed to get all worked up that they beat France in the gold medal game?
"I can't do it."
Russo shared with the crowd multiple other instances of Team USA getting him excited at the Olympics in different sports.
All of his examples were from decades ago and were some of the most iconic moments in sports history.
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"As a sports fan I can not do it," Mad Dog continued.
"I can get worked up college kids, '76, long time ago, Phil Ford and Dean Smith you know that team after they lost in '72. Now you're cooking!
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"The '80 Olympics when we beat the Russians in hockey, amateurs against the professional team. Now you're cooking!"
Russo said that America is the best basketball country in the world, so seeing them win isn't that exciting to him.
"The best basketball team and the best basketball country in the world is us," Mad Dog said.
"I am sorry, I can not get worked up about winning the game and Curry making a couple of threes, I can't."
First Take viewing figures
First Take went from strength to strength under the guidance of Stephen A. Smith and Molly Qerim last year.
The weekday ESPN debate show averaged 496,000 viewers in 2023 - making it the most-watched year in program history.
Its December average of 611,000 was a 24% year-on-year increase compared to 2022.
The show also reported more than 250 million views on YouTube.
First Take was helped by the addition of Shannon Sharpe alongside Smith and Qerim after he left Fox Sports' Undisputed.
Mad Dog also revealed at the end of his rant that he rooted for Serbia in the tournament instead of the USA, which saw a chorus of boos rain down.
After that, the live crowd broke out into a "USA" chant which Stephen A. hyped up.
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"That's right you traitor," Stephen A. said.
"Committing sports treason."
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