Recently, ESPN has brought in an influx of NBA players (both active and recently retired) as broadcasters to cover, discuss, and debate about the game.
On Tuesday, ESPN’s newest face (New Orleans’ CJ McCollum) joined the set of First Take to join JJ Redick and Stephen A. Smith on the air.
CJ’s shining moment came during one segment in the show when he and JJ exposed Stephen A. for saying that Russell Westbrook should not have shown up to the press conference:
“So you said a random, random take,” Redick said. “And then you explained a bunch of things about Russell Westbrook that had nothing to do with that take. So I want clarification on something. What is your issue with Russell Westbrook being at that news conference? You did not explain that well at all Stephen A.”
“Him supporting his team, his organization, his coach, a fellow African-American man who got hired by the Los Angeles Lakers. This is what you said!” McCollum said, per Uproxx. “You said that him going to the press conference, you’re disappointed in that? Run the tape. We got the tape. That’s what you said. … Even if you didn’t mean it the way I said it, you said that he shouldn’t have been at that press conference, that’s foul.”
CJ McCollum and JJ Redick had Stephen A. Smith in the blender 😵💫 pic.twitter.com/xa7cxbrrtF
— Complex Sports (@ComplexSports) June 7, 2022
Don’t look now, but there may be a war brewing in the NBA media world. As guys like Draymond, Redick, and McCollum take their place covering the game, guys like Stephen A. Smith and others find themselves on the defensive as pro-player narratives flood the network.
The bottom line is, Mr. Smith is going to have to be at the top of his game if he wants to keep going against these players every morning. So far, he’s been getting cooked.
