Tag: Stephen A. Smith

Micah Parsons sends Cowboys hater Stephen A. Smith to hospital after basketball mishap

From @ToddBrock24f7: A practice session for the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game ended with the noted Cowboys hater going to the hospital for ankle X-rays.

Even in practice- even in a different sport– Micah Parsons doesn’t hold back.

And now ESPN’s No. 1 Cowboys hater knows that, though there may be multiple sides to the story.

First Take host Stephen A. Smith apparently found out the hard way during a basketball practice session in Indianapolis late Thursday. Smith is slated to serve as one of the coaches in Friday’s NBA All-Star Celebrity Game, opposite Shannon Sharpe.

During the practice, the two went one-on-one at some point, and Parsons reportedly executed a crossover move that Smith- and his 56-year-old ankles- weren’t ready for.

“And all I know,” Molly Qerim said on the air Friday morning, “is Stephen A. is at the hospital right now, getting X-rays.”

NFL insider Adam Schefter has since reported that Smith is in an ankle brace but still plans to coach at Friday night’s game.

Later during the show, Smith made an appearance to give his side of the story.

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“The next thing you know, that damn Micah Parsons is on the basketball court acting like he’s trying to sack quarterbacks or something and pushing people around,” Smith complained.

And though he confirmed that Parsons was going all-out in practice, he blamed court conditions for his injury.

“He and I were shooting around, shooting against one another, and there was some sweat on the floor. And I was literally about to pull up and just shoot it. I literally bust my ass. I mean, feet flying in the air, bam! It was like I was sliding into third base. ”

Smith maintains he felt fine leaving the arena and wasn’t bothered by his ankle until later that night.

Parsons isn’t the only NFL notable hooping it up at the celebrity event. Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud, Chiefs wide receiver Mecole Hardman, and Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua are also scheduled to participate.

The game will air on ESPN at 7 p.m. ET on Friday, when Parsons will no doubt be asked for his recollections on what exactly happened.

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Stephen A. Smith ‘disgusted’ by 49ers firing defensive coordinator Steve Wilks

ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith is “disgusted” by the 49ers firing DC Steve Wilks

The fallout from the San Francisco 49ers losing yet another Super Bowl is continuing on this week. Yesterday on Valentine’s Day, the 49ers did not show any love to defensive coordinator Steve Wilks as they relieved him of his responsibilities. After only one season in the Bay Area, Wilks will no longer be on San Francisco’s staff.

You know, after a season where his defense was top three in the NFL and was routinely regarded as one of the best units in football. Oh, and not to mention after a Super Bowl performance where the 49ers held the Kansas City Chiefs to only 19 points in regulation. The Chiefs’ only touchdown in regulation came after San Francisco muffed a punt return, and Kansas City scored from 16-yards out on the following play. Yup, sure seems like the fault of a defensive coordinator who had an offense led by the best quarterback in football flummoxed for most of the game.

Naturally, the shock of this move was felt far and wide, as the overwhelming majority of people realize this was a preposterous move. Leading the charge was ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, who let his opinions be heard loud and clear:

It became immediately evident this decision was simply making Wilks the scapegoat. San Francisco had plenty of opportunities to win, and it appears this was a move to help deflect heat from a different man on the staff: head coach and offensive play caller Kyle Shanahan.

Stephen A. is right on the money with his criticisms of Shanahan’s shortcomings in the big game. Shanahan has been a coach in three Super Bowls. In each of them his teams have held at least a 10+ point lead (25 points in Super Bowl LI) and had the lead with at least three minutes remaining in regulation. He is 0-3 in his three opportunities.

San Francisco’s defense may have struggled in the playoffs against Green Bay and Detroit at times, but in the Super Bowl they were arguably the only unit that showed up to its full potential. To put it as politely as a I can, firing Steve Wilks is certainly a head-scratcher from the reigning NFC champions.

With Super Bowl in town, 2024 LIV Golf Las Vegas has loaded pro-am field

A handful of Las Vegas athletes and sports personalities are on hand at Las Vegas Country Club.

It’s Super Bowl week and the big game between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers has brought a who’s who of celebrities and athletes to Sin City, but the NFL isn’t the only show in town.

The LIV Golf League is hosting its second event of the 2024 season down the strip at Las Vegas Country Club, Feb. 8-10, and Wednesday’s pro-am features a loaded field of current and former NFL players, World Series champion MLB players, Fortune 500 executives and more. The format will see three amateurs play the front nine holes with one LIV Golf pro and the back nine with another pro. Check out who’s in the field below.

Stephen A. Smith emphatically defends Taylor Swift against criticism over attention on her

Stephen A. Smith is completely right here.

Taylor Swift has heard it from dads, Brads and Chads and even at the Golden Globes from host Jo Koy. And it’s not right.

Any and all criticism of her being shown too much during NFL games (not true) or her somehow affecting Travis Kelce’s performance in 2023 (absolutely not true) is ridiculous and needs to stop.

And who’s coming to her defense? That would be ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, who had a lot to say on First Take on the subject, as you’ll see below.

“I have to take a moment to come to the defense of Taylor Swift,” he said. “Everybody’s sitting up there and acting like she’s some kind of impediment and — excuse me — she did her job.”

“She’s going to support her dude,” he added. “To show up at a football game and the cameras are on her — that ain’t her fault!”

Well said!

Stephen A. Smith apologizes for sleeping on Thunder: ‘They got my attention now’

Stephen A. Smith apologizes for sleeping on Thunder: ‘They got my attention now’

After handing the Boston Celtics a rare loss, the Oklahoma City Thunder received plenty of praise among national media pundits for their dominating season.

The Thunder are 23-10, the second-best record in the Western Conference. During a recent tough stretch of games, OKC came out victorious in most contests.

The Thunder’s surprising season has been led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who is playing like an MVP candidate. The young pair of Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams create a promising trio in OKC.

As the Thunder bust open a contention window, national pundits such as ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith will be forced to talk about them. This was evident in Wednesday’s “First Take” episode, during which he issued an apology for sleeping on the Thunder.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I just need to sit here and apologize. For what? I have not paid enough attention to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

They got my attention now. They are (23-10), they are in second place in the West, a top-two seed in the Western Conference, one game behind Minnesota.

This brother Shai Gilgoeus-Alexander is a superstar. This brother is special. … That’s one part of the story. No. 2, they probably got the Rookie of the Year in Chet Holmgren. …

No. 3, look at what they’ve done. … They beat the defending champions Nuggets twice. They snapped the Clippers’ nine-game winning streak. They beat the West-leading Minnesota Timberwolves, and, oh by the way, they just beat who most of us recognize as the best team in basketball in the Boston Celtics.

This is what they’ve been doing. We need to stand up and pay attention to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Young thoroughbreds led by a brother that is busting everybody’s (butt).

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is a special special brother. We got some young stars in this league. He is one of them. Special, special.”

As the Thunder enter the upper echelon of teams, expect national media coverage to become the standard for OKC once again. The NBA has taken notice of what’s brewing in OKC. It scheduled an additional national television game for them the Thunder.

The Thunder have been great all season long, but it appears beating arguably the championship favorite has helped conventional wisdom finally catch up to them.

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Bills’ win over the Cowboys made ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith go off (video)

Stephen A. enjoyed the #Bills’ win:

Stephen A. Smith wasn’t and is not exactly a fan of the Bills. But he was a fan of what they did on Sunday.

In Week 15, the Bills won in a rout over the Cowboys. The 31-10 final score had Smith laughing.

The longtime ESPN host and analyst went on a rant (& a laugh) about the Sunday’s game.

“Didn’t I tell you? Didn’t I tell you?” Smith said. “I picked the Buffalo Bills to win this game.”

Smith’s reaction he posted to social media can be found below:

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The Inside the NBA crew had Stephen A. Smith play ‘Who he play for?’ and it went exactly how you’d expect

Stephen A. Smith is so bad at this game

ESPN and TNT had a melding of broadcasts on Thursday as part of the NBA’s In-Season Tournament coverage and, let me tell you, this is looking like the best idea ever.

It was obviously chaotic. Probably a bit more chaotic than you could’ve ever imagined, honestly.

Stephen A. Smith got completely roasted by Charles Barkley and the Inside the NBA crew. Barkley threatened to fight him, Shaq acted like he spilled something on him and they even went in on his hairline.

Where things really took a turn, though, was when they had Stephen A. play Charles Barkley’s infamous “Who he play for?” game. For those of you who don’t know, this is the game the crew plays with Charles Barkley all the time to embarrass him. He has no idea who any of the league’s role players play for. It’s pure comedy.

He and Stephen A. are on the same wave. Smith played the game and, well, let’s just say he didn’t do much better than Chuck.

To be fair to Stephen A. Smith, though, he got some tough players! Ish Smith? Garrett Temple? Those dudes have switched teams so much! Dante Exum wasn’t even in the league for a few years. That’s a tough slate.

That was a nice try by Stephen A., but it didn’t really work out.

What this does prove, though, is that we need more crossovers like this. Because, man, this was so fun. Please, y’all. Give us more.

Charles Barkley made NBA on TNT’s crossover coverage with ESPN as chaotic as you imagined

This was always going to be wild.

ESPN and TNT collaborated on coverage for the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament, which produced exactly as much chaos as you’d expect.

It was a huge meeting of the minds between ESPN’s NBA team and TNT’s beloved Inside the NBA crew. That is a lot of strong personalities on one screen. But it was Charles Barkley who immediately took over control of the broadcast.

The former NBA big man complimented ESPN’s Malika Andrews and said that Mike Wilbon was his mentor and friend. He also added that he “loved” former Warriors executive Bob Myers. But then it got unhinged.

WARNING: The following clip contains language not safe for work.

But he had some sharp words for ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith.

Barkley warned Smith that if he came over being loud during the broadcast, it wouldn’t be First Take. Instead, he said that it would be the first [expleitive] whooping that he takes.

Shaquille O’Neal then asked the question everyone watching was wondering: Are you not entertained?!

He then came over to torment ESPN’s Smith for a bit as well with a prank of his own.

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Chris ‘Mad Dog’ Russo somehow made up a name when listing players better than anyone on the Knicks

This was an embarrassing mistake by Russo.

After the Knicks were eliminated from the NBA’s In-Season Tournament, TNT’s Kenny Smith diagnosed the main issue with the franchise.

According to Smith, no matter who New York is playing, the Knicks will always have the second-best player on the court. ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith and Chris “Mad Dog” Russo discussed the topic, too, and Russo agreed with the take.

Russo argued that Julius Randle is a “decent” player and that Jalen Brunson is a “very, very good” player. But he feels that neither are “great” players and that there are other great players in the Eastern Conference.

He proceeded to list a few of the players who he considers “great” and that list included Jimmy Butler, Jayson Tatum, Reggie Brown and Joel Embiid.

Three of the players mentioned by Russo are indeed “great” players but it’s unclear who, exactly, he meant when he referenced Reggie Brown. There is no NBA player by that name.

Perhaps he was mixing up Boston’s Jaylen Brown with the former NFL player who was left temporarily paralyzed while making a tackle against the New York Jets in 1997.

Either way, this was an embarrassing mistake by Russo who appeared to read names directly off a paper and still couldn’t get it right.

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‘This is a team that is no joke’: Stephen A. Smith says NBA should take note of OKC Thunder

‘This is a team that is no joke’: Stephen A. Smith says NBA should take note of the Thunder.

The Oklahoma City Thunder have quickly climbed the ranks of the best teams in the league.

After a surprising 40-42 campaign last season that finished a win shy of the playoffs, the Thunder have had a fast start. They are 13-6 and are second in the Western Conference standings.

One of their most impressive wins happened recently when the young Thunder blew out the Los Angeles Lakers who had a healthy LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

That type of statement win against the most marketed team in the league will draw eyes from the national media.

When discussing the game on “First Take,” ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith sang the praise of the Thunder and what they’ve built over time with this young core.

“To me personally, the story here is the Oklahoma City Thunder. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is a star. Let’s get that out of the way. We’ve been talking about Wembanyama, by the way, Chet Holmgren can ball. The brother can —  I mean, he can ball.

I’m looking at the youth on Oklahoma City, the fresh legs, the athleticism. This is a team that is no joke and we better all take stock, pay attention.

Sam Presti has done an exceptional job in building this team. I think that it would be nice to see them get over the hump and finally win a championship, since with the great players that he’s had in that organization over the years. But the man clearly knows what he’s doing. He’s one of the elite executives in this game and they’ve got it.

I mean, I like Oklahoma City a lot. … These brothers are really, really good. They are on the come up. Keep them together for a while if you can afford to.”


As the Thunder get better, it’s only natural they get more of the national spotlight. Expect that to continue as it appears OKC is in the infancy stages of a title contention window.

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