Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Andrew Joseph

J.J. Redick and C.J. McCollum brilliantly called out Stephen A. Smith over Russell Westbrook remarks

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.”

That was when both Redick and McCollum came in to call Smith out on the remarks. They wanted more answers.

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.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.