The Knicks were on a three-game losing streak before their fixture against the Grizzlies tonight. Stephen A. Smith took this opportunity to clap back at Josh Hart, who had recently asked him to “shut the hell up” in viral comments about the ESPN analyst’s criticisms of the Knicks.
Smith, in his recent appearance on ESPN’s First Take, fired back at Hart for calling him out publicly.
“Message to Josh Hart, do I need to shut the hell up now? Does it make sense what I was saying now? I mean, are you getting it now? You haven’t won a game since you clapped back at me. You’ve been on a losing streak since you talked smack about me,” said Smith.
“Maybe if y’all prioritized what I was saying and paid attention to the substance and veracity of my comments instead of protecting your boys, maybe you’d be winning games when you go up against teams that are better than .500, do I make sense now?”
“Because I ain’t getting personal, I’m talking basketball, and every time you go up against somebody that’s relatively respectable, you’re wetting the bed.”
“You’re like 4-8 or 4-9 against winning teams since the All-Star break. But you’re 9-0 against sub .500 teams. Who the hell do you think you’re going to be playing in the playoffs?”
“The New York Knicks are literally a couple of weeks away from the playoffs starting, and Josh Hart is on camera talking about ‘We’re moving in the wrong direction. You know, we’ve got to get our stuff together.'”
“We’re looking at a team that still doesn’t have a definitive identity. We’re looking at a team that New York Knicks fans know is talented, know it’s playoff caliber, but we’re questioning their toughness.”
Following the loss to the Rockets last night, Josh Hart admitted that the Knicks are not headed in the right direction. A video of Hart also went viral for trying to pump energy back into his teammates during the game.
“…It don’t matter what we do…We have to figure it out”
–– Josh Hart to huddle as Knicks drop 3rd straight in Houston pic.twitter.com/3Q1BuI2KsE
— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) April 1, 2026
There may be some substance to what Stephen A. Smith is trying to say. The Knicks are 26-22 against teams over the .500 mark but 22-6 against teams below it.
Most of their wins have come over teams that are worse than them, and they have struggled to produce consistently against championship-contending teams.
Even tonight, they have allowed the Grizzlies to come back into the game after leading by as many as 22 points, and allowed them to cut it to eight points before the fourth quarter even began.
A matchup they should’ve comfortably put away by the end of the third quarter is ending up as a close game. While the losing streak looks like it will end tonight, the concerns remain the same: a lack of team chemistry and issues in offensive execution.
But let’s be honest, the regular season and the playoffs are a totally different ballgame altogether. Smith goes on to mention that if the regular season were to end today, the Knicks would face the Hawks, who are not going to be an easy seven-game matchup.
The Knicks defeated the Pistons, who were riddled with injuries last season, and the Celtics, who ended up losing Jayson Tatum to an Achilles injury in that series. Therefore, some may classify their Eastern Conference Finals run as a fluke.
It is now up to Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, and the core of the Knicks on whether they can silence the critics with their game. It will be interesting to see if this team ‘finds its identity’ in the playoffs.
