ESPN’s First Take rarely makes for compelling television as manufactured debate basically exists to rile up viewers. But on Tuesday, we saw something that doesn’t happen particularly often on ESPN’s airwaves:
Stephen A. Smith got rattled on his own show.
Pelicans guard C.J. McCollum and former NBA guard J.J. Redick were a part of Tuesday’s panel, and they took issue with a comment Smith made about Russell Westbrook’s attendance at newly hired Lakers head coach Darvin Ham’s introductory press conference. Smith — without explaining his actual reasoning — said, “Him being at that press conference yesterday — actually to me — I didn’t like it.”
.@stephenasmith doesn’t think the Lakers can win a championship as presently constructed.
“I think as long as LeBron James and Anthony Davis are healthy, you can overcome it enough to be a playoff team. But that’s about the height of my expectations for the Los Angeles Lakers.” pic.twitter.com/67VTveWqwe
— First Take (@FirstTake) June 7, 2022
That was when both Redick and McCollum came in to call Smith out on the remarks. They wanted more answers.
Here's the full conversation where CJ & JJ called Stephen A out on Russ being at Darvin Ham's press conference pic.twitter.com/asTCb4miTt
— CJ Fogler AKA Perc70 #BlackLivesMatter (@cjzero) June 7, 2022
They thought it was odd that Smith would even take issue with Westbrook supporting his new head coach as Smith initially listed stats instead of justifying his argument. And even if the Lakers are trying to move Westbrook, he’s still a member of the team. If he didn’t attend the press conference, it probably would have been a bigger deal, and both Redick and McCollum had Smith scrambling to defend the take.
Smith ultimately clarified that his criticism was aimed at the Lakers rather than Westbrook, which satisfied Redick and McCollum. But man, what a whirlwind that was.
NBA fans came away impressed with Redick and McCollum after that segment.