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Rozner: Apparently, Ayesha Curry's place is in kitchen

When Ray Rice knocked out his girlfriend in an Atlantic City elevator two years ago, there were so many people exposed for their latent, misogynistic tendencies that it was difficult to keep track.

No one revealed himself more than Roger Goodell, who gave Rice a two-game suspension and then remained deceptive about what he knew and when he knew it, later suspending Rice indefinitely.

There were the Baltimore Ravens and their fans, who proudly displayed Rice jerseys as he arrived in camp. His teammates stepped in it over and over again, while coach John Harbaugh and owner Steve Biscotti consistently embarrassed themselves.

Underrated along the way in how he handled that case was ESPN's highest-profile, hot-take star, Stephen A. Smith. You may have already decided what the “A” stands for, but Smith left little doubt what he thought regarding domestic violence.

Said Smith of Rice's fiancee, “Let's make sure we don't do anything to provoke wrong actions.”

In true caveman fashion, Smith suggested that it's a woman's fault when a man destroys her face with a single punch.

Lovely.

Don't speak. Don't move. Don't breathe. And maybe you won't get beaten by someone who outweighs you by a hundred pounds.

After several female ESPN employees voiced their displeasure, Smith got a week's suspension and only made things worse when trying to explain his frightening comment.

So it was not at all surprising on Friday when Smith told Steph Curry's wife — in so many words — that her place is in the kitchen.

By now you have probably heard that Ayesha Curry let off a little steam following Game 6, when she tweeted some less than flattering remarks about the NBA, suggesting the game was “rigged.”

It's nothing less than any Warriors fan probably screamed at the TV during the last two games, Twitter the modern-day equivalent of someone yelling from their couch.

Big deal.

It was entertaining, sure, but it had no impact on anyone or anything. You can argue about whether it was wise, but can you argue her right to speak?

Smith did and he was quick to put this woman in her place.

“She stepped out of line. She stepped out of pocket. I'm trying to sound as appropriate as I possibly can,” Smith said, while sounding completely inappropriate. “You are the wife of Steph Curry. You are a reflection of him.”

So she can't be her own person. She has only one job. Be a good wife and shut up.

“What you do is a reflection on the organization he works for,” Smith said. “You have to be mindful of that.”

Of course, because she obviously speaks for the Warriors.

“You can't get caught up in your own individual emotions and having this zest to speak out, to the point where it compromises your husband,” Smith said. “And the fact that she did that, she was wrong. It came across as very classless.”

OK, she's classless. That is actually funny coming from Smith, who is allowed to get caught up in his emotions for several hours a day on TV.

And she's compromising her husband? Um, how exactly?

“She's an adorable young lady,” Smith said, “with an incredibly promising future, but you just can't do that.”

That's right. Sit there and be pretty, like any good wife.

“As beautiful as everybody wants to say Ayesha Curry is, and she is,” Smith said, “Savannah (James) is something special.”

So now he drags another woman into the conversation, this time LeBron James' wife.

“(Savannah is) wonderful inside and out,” Smith said, suggesting he knows something about Ayesha that we don't. “She sits there, doesn't bring any attention to herself. She never tweets and goes out there and calls out the league and stuff like that.”

So a man can get angry and throw a mouthpiece and he's just being animated and fiery, but a woman expresses her opinion and she doesn't know her place, which — apparently — is to dress nice, show a little leg, cook dinner and walk two paces behind her husband.

Seriously, what year is this? Wait until Smith finds out women have the right to vote.

And this from a man who gets paid a king's ransom to be loud and opinionated and angry every day, but he's a man so that's good in his world.

At a women's summit last week, Michelle Obama told Oprah Winfrey that men could “be better at everything. Be better fathers. Just being good fathers who love your daughters and provide a solid example of what it means to be a good man in the world. That is the greatest gift that the men in my life gave to me.”

The next summit should be held at ESPN.

brozner@dailyherald.com

• Listen to Barry Rozner from 9 a.m. to noon Sundays on the Score's “Hit and Run” show at WSCR 670-AM.

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