Marcus Morris’ NBA takes were so wild that Stephen A. Smith actually thanked him for taking heat off him

Marcus Morris Sr. hasn't played in the NBA since last season, and at 35 years old, the former journeyman and All-American at Kansas is testing out his skills as a hot-take artist in the media space.

At the very least, Morris understood the assignment.

After a trial run with ESPN's coverage of the men's Big 12 tournament, Morris was back on the network Thursday as a guest on First Take. Now, First Take is never the place to go for measured, reasonable opinions about sports. But even by First Take standards, Morris was unleashing the wildest NBA takes.

Once Morris claimed that three-time MVP Nikola Jokic wouldn't even be a top-20 player, Stephen A. Smith felt compelled to thank Morris for taking heat off of his shoulders.

Marcus Morris Sr: "I'm still not gonna say [Nikola Jokic] is top 20 right now."

Stephen A. Smith: "I disagree... [but] I wanna thank you for being on the show today... the amount of heat that you're taking off my shoulders... it's a beautiful moment." 😂pic.twitter.com/RxUCtn8WA5

And that wasn't all Morris said. He said he would put Kawhi Leonard ahead of Stephen Curry. He said that he doesn't think the Thunder have the depth to win the West. He also put the Lakers, Clippers (currently a play-in team) and Warriors ahead of the Thunder.

Marcus Morris got on the air and just started yapping 😭 pic.twitter.com/rWrm7cv8Qi

We'll have to see if Morris makes regular appearances on the show, but ESPN certainly can expect him to say, uh, things if they have him back.

This article originally appeared on For The Win: Marcus Morris’ NBA takes were so wild that Stephen A. Smith actually thanked him for taking heat off him