ESPN analyst wants to cancel the sports metaphor 'Mount Rushmore': 'Not even the four best presidents'

ESPN analyst Jay Williams wants to retire the sports reference to Mount Rushmore.

Referring to the national monument in South Dakota where the faces of four former U.S. presidents are carved into a mountainside, sports analysts regularly use the phrase to refer to the greatest players of a particular sport.

On Wednesday, ESPN host Stephen A. Smith suggested that NBA superstar Steph Curry might replace LeBron James on the "Mount Rushmore" of professional basketball if the Golden State Warriors win this year's NBA championship. Though Curry is already considered the greatest shooter in NBA history, another championship would make him a five-time champion.

On Thursday, Williams responded to Smith's comments and registered his disdain for the reference.

"Can we first off just stop with the Mount Rushmore talk," Williams said on ESPN. "They're not even the four best presidents this country has ever had. Everyone in this room was not even able to vote. I just want to say that off the top. That’s our metric for success? That’s our king?"

Smith responded that the reference "is just used as a metaphor."

While it's debatable who the four best presidents are — though many would include the George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt on their list of best presidents — it's true that black Americans did not have full voting privileges when Mount Rushmore was constructed or under any of those four presidents.

The 15th Amendment gave black men the right to vote, but because of Jim Crow laws and poll taxes, many weren't able to exercise their full rights for another century. The 24th Amendment, ratified in 1964, constitutionally outlawed poll taxes.

Anything else?

Williams isn't the first sports analyst to blast the "Mount Rushmore" metaphor.

Last year, ESPN analyst Jalen Rose said using the metaphor is "offensive," especially to Native Americans. South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) blasted "woke leftists" in response.

"The four men on Mount Rushmore were amazing, flawed American leaders who helped make America what it is today — the greatest country the world has ever known," she responded. "To the woke leftists obsessed with attacking these leaders, I’ve got news for you: not on my watch."

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!