Stephen A. Smith, ESPN’s most visible personality, found himself to be the center of attention for all the wrong reasons this Tuesday.
NBA star and Chicago Bulls guard Lonzo Ball called out the First Take personality and heavy Worldwide Leader presence Smith for what Smith said during one of his many network hits.
Smith was on First Take Tuesday and discussed Ball and his injury woes, as he is reportedly going to miss- the entire 2023-24 season as knee injuries have caused a severe detriment to the former UCLA standout and his career.
“Those are doctors; something went wrong in terms of these procedures he has had. I don’t think he’ll ever be the same,” Smith said from his seat at the desk. “Based off what we’re seeing and hearing and reading about.
“I’ve heard that it’s even hard for him to get up from a sitting position,” Smith claimed.
Well, this audacious claim drew the attention of Ball, who decided to address the claim by going head-on with Smith.
The Bulls star invited Smith to “come to the actual source next time” in a post on his X account.
He added, “I’m not hard to reach,” and included a video. That video showed Ball standing out of a sitting position, something which Smith claimed he had heard.
@stephenasmith come to the actual source next time. I’m not hard to reach pic.twitter.com/88xyoB7LTf
— Lonzo Ball (@ZO2_) August 22, 2023
However, it is not the first time Stephen A. Smith has been called out for something, and astonishingly it’s also not the first time a farfetched claim has been called out based on things someone “heard.”
Meanwhile, sailing in the same boat was, WFAN personality and former NFL running back Tiki Barber, who was recently under scrutiny over “reckless speculation” about the New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh.
