After ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith’s latest scathing rant about New Orleans Pelicans star Zion Williamson, the Pelicans’ social media team decided to take matters into their own hands.
Smith may have grown used to receiving fans’ backlash for his spicy takes, but this time, he received something much more embarrassing.
On Friday, the Pelicans hilariously trolled the longtime analyst by posting a blooper reel of Smith attempting to play a variety of sports from basketball to baseball to boxing. They added the caption, “flock it, Stephen A. Smith highlights.”
The blooper video included a snapshot of Smith’s college basketball stats for Winston-Salem State University (which Smith set the record straight on last August) along with other “highlights” of Smith’s athletic career.
flock it, Stephen A. Smith highlights. pic.twitter.com/jWdaEBeTis
— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) February 23, 2024
Earlier that day, Smith tore into Williamson for his weight issues.
“Zion Williamson, it’s not about his game,” Smith said on Get Up. “It’s about how many burgers he’s eating and whether or not he is going to be in shape or if he’s going to keep eating McDonald’s and have chefs clamoring for him to come to their restaurants. That’s what he has to prove, that the chefs don’t love him any longer. That he’s committed to playing basketball and being in shape.”
Smith is hardly the first pundit to criticize the 23-year-old’s physique and health, as concerns about Williamson’s diet and work ethic have been sore topics for the Pels in the past.
Smith has since responded to the Pelicans’ troll:
LESS!!! Can’t score when you can’t play due to a devastating knee injury. That’s my fact. Now……what’s y’all excuse for never winning anything???
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) February 23, 2024
Can’t wait to see y’all in April. May and June? We won’t even go there! Good Luck! Tell my boys…Coach Green and CJ I’m always… https://t.co/1G9ZzwFPbF
Williamson is averaging 22.5 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game this season, his fifth in NOLA. The Pelicans sit in fifth place in the West with a 34–22 record and have won eight of their last nine games.
