Stephen A. Smith is always prepared for battle when it comes to defending co-hosts on ESPN “First Take.”
One day after his highly publicized — and contentious — argument with Monica McNutt over Caitlin Clark and his show’s previous coverage of the WNBA, Smith made it a point Tuesday to talk about how much he takes pride in defending his co-workers.
“What I will applaud myself for doing is making sure that people know that I fight for y’all,” Smith said. “It’s not be bragging about it, it’s me saying there’s warfare and I embrace it. I fight for Molly [Qerim] every day. … I fight for M&M [McNutt] every day. The list goes on and on. I was raised by five women, for crying out loud. I know what the fight is. People sometimes don’t know what you’re doing behind the scenes.”
Smith continued on with his soliloquy, adding more to his “warfare” point.
“There’s warfare going on,” Smith added. “Some people are on the front lines. Others chip about being there, and then they go hide. But they the ones that squeak the loudest. That’s the stuff that irritates me… It ain’t bragging — it’s that it’s a war out here and I’m always ready to get down.”
The crux of the Tuesday debate centered largely around fellow WNBA players’ treatment of star Caitlin Clark, who was body checked by the Sky’s Chennedy Carter in a Saturday matinee.
Carter, on Monday, said that she did not regret the foul, which was upgraded to a flagrant after the game.
McNutt said Monday that Clark should not get any preferential treatment from referees and that the game is inherently physical before the conversation began to focus on the program’s own coverage of the WNBA.
McNutt told Smith in the awkward exchange that he should’ve been talking about women’s sports three years ago instead of only putting it in the spotlight now with the emergence of Clark and Angel Reese.
“Stephen A., respectfully, with your platform, you could have been doing this three years ago if you wanted to,” she said
Smith was outraged at the comment, saying McNutt has “missed a lot of episodes of ‘First Take.'”
Smith, on Tuesday, addressed comments about his role in bringing attention to women’s sports, including adding prolific voices to “First Take.”
This came after Smith had boasted during a segment on Monday about his willingness to have female guests on “First Take” during a 40-minute debate centered around WNBA officiating and physicality.
Smith also echoed similar sentiments on his podcast late Monday.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I am the executive producer of ‘First Take.’ You ever heard of Monica McNutt? You have now. Because she’s on ‘First Take’ a lot. Chiney Ogwumike, absolutely wonderful, spectacular basketball analyst. … ask her how it’s been to be on ‘First Take.’ How about Andraya Carter? Who’s a rising star in this business. How much do you think ‘First Take’ helped that? What about Kimberley Martin? What about Molly Qerim herself?
“I challenge anybody to find a show on sports television that discusses women’s issues that discuss the WNBA, or women’s sports that highlights and profiles female analysts more than ‘First Take.’ It’s been going on for years,” he continued.
For her part, McNutt also appeared on ESPN’s “Get Up” on Tuesday, saying she wishes the discussion around the WNBA focused more on the “actual basketball” rather than the drama of the hard foul over the weekend.