Stephen A. Smith had a pretty direct message for former NBA star Paul Pierce after his latest live stream incident: “You’re better than that.”
The ESPN analyst was reacting to Pierce’s antics during an NBA Finals livestream of the a Showtime Basketball-affiliated podcast “The Ticker & The Truth,” which is hosted by Pierce and longtime teammate Kevin Garnett.
Pierce exhibited odd behavior during the livestream and appeared to be intoxicated as fans watched the Finals along with the two former NBA stars.
Multiple clips of Pierce made their way to social media as the former long-time Boston Celtic introduced Garnett to his “girlfriend for the day,” who he said he hired off a website and showed off his expensive jewelry.
Pierce also got agitated after he got hit in the face with a lighter that someone had tossed to him after he had been asking for one so he could smoke a cigar on the stream.
Each time, Garnett tried to reel his friend back in.
But the antics appeared to touch a nerve with Smith, who was a colleague of Pierce’s at ESPN before Pierce was let go in 2021.
And during the “First Take” host’s “The Stephen A. Smith Show,” he addressed the video and a previous incident.
“You may find it funny. I don’t. I find it kind of sad to be quite honest with you,” Smith said. ”That’s the bulls–t that irritates the living hell out of me.”
The well-known ESPN talking head then went on to take Pierce to task for putting Garnett in a compromising position by the way he had been acting.
“That’s his brother, his teammate, his friend. He ain’t going to say much on camera,” Smith commented. “I’d love to hear what he said to him off-camera because Kevin Garnett ain’t one to tolerate that kind of nonsense.”
Similar antics cost Pierce his job at ESPN when he live-streamed a poker game on his Instagram page.
Pierce and his company could be seen passing around joints and with strippers in full view of the camera.
Walt Disney-owned ESPN did not take too kindly to the display and parted ways with Pierce, who had a large role on “NBA Countdown” at the time.
“There’s certain stuff you can’t do. Not when you’re working in corporate America,” Smith said referring to the previous transgression. “Damn sure not when you’re working for Disney.”
As of now, there haven’t been any repercussions for Pierce over the antics during the podcast livestream.
Showtime, nor Garnett or Pierce have commented.
Still, Smith, who took nearly 14 minutes out of his own podcast to address the clips, expressed concern for Pierce’s ways.
“That’s how you want to be seen? You want the image of you being with a drink in your hand, surrounded by strippers or pulling out your phone to summon women that you paid for? With alcohol or weed always around you, slurring your speech? Please stop,” Smith said.
“You mean too much to the game of basketball. It’s embarrassing. Come on, bro. You’re better than that.”