Stephen A. Smith had to work hard to become the big figure he is right now, making some sacrifices that favored his career, while gaining some enemies in the process. It’s not like things have changed now, as he’s currently involved in some beef with Brooklyn Nets superstar Kevin Durant.
The controversial ESPN analyst isn’t new to this type of conflict. Back in the day, when he still worked in Philadelphia, Smith found himself in a complex position. He had a good relationship with Sixers legend Allen Iverson, but things changed after he wrote a not-so-flattering article about the combo guard.
Following that, the relationship with AI changed, and Smith was ready to solve this problem in any way. Talking with JJ Redick on his The Old Man and the Three, Smith revealed that after he learned Iverson would put his hands on him, he went to Atlanta to find him and take care of things.
He talked about the biggest regrets in his career, and after recalling the beef he had with Glenn Robinson, he touched on the Iverson situation (2:29).
“It’s hard to admit this as an objective observer, or journalist, or commentator, but I love Allen Iverson. He’s like a little brother to me. And covering him, being an African-American man from the streets of New York, knowing his story and knowing everything he endured, we went through a lot together covering him. I don’t believe I’m sitting here in this position today if it were not for Allen Iverson. When he was a star in this league, the only person more popular than him one could easily argue was Michael Jordan. That’s how popular Allen Iverson was. He didn’t always do the right things, and sometimes that stuff was hard to write, and a whole bunch of stuff I didn’t say, and I didn’t write, but sometimes he left you no choice.”
Smith recalled that one time, Iverson told him he was away from the Philadelphia 76ers because his kid was sick, but then he was spotted partying with a bunch of people. Stephen A.’s then editor told him to write the new piece or they and their team would take care of it. That was the start of this feud that lasted two years.
The journalist would then meet up with Iverson to sort things out, and that’s when he learned that the player was hurt because he wrote the article, not because of the piece itself.
“I went down to Atlanta looking for him, and I had a few of my boys with me. I went down there looking for him and I found him, and we met up, and it wasn’t any of that. He said, ‘man, I don’t care about the article. It’s that it came from you.’ And when he said that, I felt this small, because I got it, I didn’t know. He has a job as a player, I have a job as a reporter, and that was it. I’m here thinking he had a problem with the story, he had no problem with the story. He said, ‘I deal with that every day, it’s the fact that your name was on the byline’. And I really didn’t say much, but when I saw the hurt in his eyes, the story wasn’t worth it to me.”
Allen Iverson had many feuds during his NBA career, and after David Stern, the media was a huge opponent for him. Understandably, he was mad at Smith for writing something against him when they had a friendship.
In the end, things were fixed and both the player and journalist squashed their beef. AI had one of the most tumultuous and entertaining careers ever, and even though he never won a championship, he’s one of the most beloved former players in the league.
