Hasan Minhaj's bona fides as a Kings fan couldn't be questioned before Tuesday, and they sure as heck can't be questioned now.
The "Patriot Act" host once slipped in a Vlade Divac reference as part of an exposé on the cruise industry during an August episode of his weekly news comedy show on Netflix. Minhaj topped that Tuesday on ESPN's "First Take" by dumbfounding co-host Stephen A. Smith by naming Mitch Richmond as the NBA's second-best player of all time behind Michael Jordan.
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"This isn't gonna be factually accurate," Minhaj said. "But just emotionally for me, Stephen, as a Sacramento Kings fan, my second favorite player of all time is Mitch Richmond."
Smith clearly felt it was a blasphemous assertion, based on his facial reactions. But Smith sold it with silence, as Minhaj reiterated that his answer was an emotional one.
"I have no facts to back that up, he's just my favorite player," he continued, "and I rep my favorite team and where I'm from."
To Minhaj's credit, Richmond is in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Richmond averaged 23.3 points per game in seven seasons with the Kings, making the All-Star Game six consecutive times.
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No wonder Minhaj, a lifelong Kings fan who grew up in Davis, holds Richmond in such high regard. Smith might not have known that backstory, as evidenced by his uncharacteristically short response to Minhaj making his case.
"OK," Smith retorted.
Perhaps a man who isn't a lawyer and "often" has said he would have won the O.J. Simpson trial just wanted to teach a comedian a thing or two about comedic timing.