Stephen A. Smith is not one to mince words, but his mouth often times gets him into trouble with some of his peers. He's had a back and forth with Dan Le Batard, reportedly had a verbal altercation with colleague Pat McAfee, and has longstanding war with Jason Whitlock.
And right now, Smith has found himself beefing with former NBA veterans and hosts of the show "All The Smoke," Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson.
It started after Smith made comments when guesting on Fox News in April about the relationship that Black voters have with Donald Trump. Answering a question from Fox News host Sean Hannity, Smith seemed to support the thought that Black voters felt a relation to Trump's ongoing hush money trial.
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"When you see the law, law enforcement, the court system and everything else being exercised against [Trump], it is something that Black folks throughout this nation can relate to with some of our historic, iconic figures," Smith said.
A week later, Smith then commented on ESPN's "NBA Countdown" about an incident with NBA veteran Russell Westbrook saying that he believed the guard should have been suspended after his actions in Game 3 of the series between Westbrook's Los Angeles Clippers and the Dallas Mavericks.
Smith went as far as saying he called the NBA to ask for an explanation as to why Westbrook was not given a suspension.
"I felt so serious about this, fellas, I called the league office, and I said, 'I need an explanation. Tell me why Russell Westbrook wasn't suspended,'" Smith said.
Smith admitted that after speaking with the league, he agreed with their assessment to not suspend Westbrook, but Smith's actions were not taken well by Jackson.
"He a snitch," Jackson said. "You snitching, bro. You called the league and tried to get him suspended, that was the league's decision, bro."
Jackson's case was that Smith is not working for the league, so by calling the league about the suspension, Smith was essentially trying to influence them to suspend Westbrook.
The former NBA veteran was also bothered by Smith's comments on Trump, particularly because he believes Smith wouldn't say what he said in a different setting.
"If you was on the corner with ten brothers in your neighborhood, you wouldn't have said that," Jackson said.
Jackson believes Smith used his comfort on television as an out for him to say those thoughts. He concluded by saying that he was done "f—ing" with Smith.
On the other hand, Barnes was little calmer, saying he still has respect for Smith while still disagreeing with his comments.
Barnes ended up hopping on Smith's podcast "The Stephen A. Smith Show" to talk to Smith about what happened and the two had a lengthy conversation about both the Westbrook and Trump issues.
"I felt like that was out of pocket because if anyone who hasn't played should know how we feel, it's you," Barnes said.
Smith defended himself saying that the reason why he called the league was that he wanted to add the information to his pregame broadcast as it was not clear yet why Westbrook was not suspended.
"You are a player, [Jackson] is a player, I'm a reporter, not just a personality," Smith said. "I've been covering the NBA for thirty years. We got NBA Countdown coming on, they wanted to know why [Westbrook] wasn't suspended because had it been Draymond [Green] or somebody, they might have been suspended. Question asked, question answered, you move on."
Barnes appeared to be understanding toward Smith, but told the ESPN reporter that his energy on television made it seem like he went out of his way to try to potentially suspend Westbrook.
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"The way I took it — and I can't speak for nobody else — you went out of your way, because that's the kind of energy you was giving I'm not even going to lie to you, you went out of your way to call the NBA like, 'Why is he not suspended?'" Barnes said.
When it came to Smith's statements on Trump, the ESPN voice said that he understands why some Black folks would have been offended by his comments because he would have been as well had he seen them. But he clarified that he was answering a question referring specifically to Black Trump supporters — not Black voters at large — and why he believes they would choose to support Trump.
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"When Sean Hannity asked me that question, I was speaking to the few Blacks who do support [Trump], this is what they're saying to him," Smith said.
Smith also added that he's been very critical of Trump publicly, saying that he believes that the former president is capable of starting a civil war.
The two seemed to find common ground after Smith was able to explain himself, even touching on a slew of other topics related to the NBA. But it doesn't seem as though there's been peace made yet between Smith and Jackson.
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