ESPN broadcaster Stephen A. Smith didn’t hold back while defending himself against his network colleague Monica McNutt.
Earlier on Monday, McNutt challenged Smith over his perceived historic lack of covering the WNBA while discussing the Chennedy Carter hard foul on Caitlin Clark. The moment went viral for how particularly passionate McNutt’s pushback on Smith and how taken aback he was by it.
Well, Smith didn’t wait too long to respond to McNutt’s comments at around the 21-minute mark of his personal podcast.
It’s safe to say that he was not thrilled in the slightest by McNutt’s assertions that his long-running sports debate show First Take hasn’t historically given focus to the WNBA.
“I have sat back for years and taken a lot of [expletive] from people, some who don’t know what the hell they’re talking about, some who act like they don’t know just because they want to get at me,” Smith said on the show.
“I could care less about people getting at me; I just want you to be accurate. And it is highly offensive to me when somebody implies or flat-out states like Monica McNutt did this morning, which was factually incorrect.”
While he said he loves McNutt and still supports her, Smith also challenged the audience to look for a program on television that covers the WNBA quite like First Take does and says McNutt’s assertion about his show was “blatantly false.” You can see his full reply in the episode.
Some NSFW language to follow.
Smith’s laser-focused response to McNutt feels pretty personal, as he’s clearly not happy he’s being challenged for being representational with how First Take covers sports.
We’re not exactly sure who’s more correct here, but we do know that both sides feel very strongly about their perspectives.
