Former NBA player Stephen Jackson has put Stephen A. Smith on blast for how he reacted to being called out by Serena Williams’ husband Alexis Ohanian on First Take on Oct. 9. Smith was respectful when responding to Ohanian on the episode and later on the Stephen A. Smith Show and Jackson stated on an Instagram story that he doesn’t quite act the same when it comes to Williams or LeBron James.
“Come on, Stephen A., bro,” Jackson said. “You get loud and all in your feelings about Bron. When talking to a Black billionaire, but when you talking to a white billionaire, you humble. And you come back on your show talking real respectful and mild-mannered. Listen, bro, and you dogging the Black women.”
Smith had stated that if he were married, he’d have divorced his wife if she had joined in on trolling her ex, which is what he believes Williams had done. She had appeared on Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl Halftime Show, where she danced to “Not Like Us,” a diss track aimed at Drake, who she reportedly once dated.
Ohanian checked Smith over those comments, stating that someone who has never been married probably shouldn’t be talking about the subject. The ESPN star admitted he wasn’t qualified to give marriage advice and later had this to say on his own show.
“I have absolutely no issue with him whatsoever wanting to address that situation with me,” Smith said. “Because that’s her husband, and I certainly meant no disrespect towards him at all.”
Smith, who wasn’t in the First Take studio that day, also acknowledged that Ohanian’s saying he shouldn’t be talking about things he has no idea about was fair.
“I think that’s a fair comment on his part,” Smith added. “I don’t have to agree with it, but I took no offense to it. And if I had been in studio and that was something that he wanted to broach, I would have reiterated what I said. Maybe in a more respectable manner than my initial reaction.”
Jackson suggests Smith wouldn’t be talking in this manner if he had been confronted by a Black individual. Of course, he has been ripping James ever since the Los Angeles Lakers superstar confronted him during a game against the New York Knicks over comments he had made about Bronny James.
Jackson doesn’t like the fact that Smith doesn’t have the same kind of energy when reacting to Whites and Blacks. He also made it clear that the ESPN analyst shouldn’t be entering the field of politics.
“Stay out of politics and stick to talking about sports you never played, alright,” Jackson said. “Just stick to doing that, bro. We not gonna vote for you. I heard you talking about running, don’t do that, bro. We’re not gonna vote for you. No… You do not have the same energy for other people, but you got a lot of energy for Bron and Black women, and not everybody else, stop it.”
Stephen Jackson reacts to Serena Williams husband confronting Stephen A Smith LIVE on air about marriage advice pic.twitter.com/5ynX6mAZhu
— 2Cool2Blog (@2Cool2Blog) October 13, 2025
You do wonder if Smith responds to all that Jackson had to say. The 58-year-old has never shied away from a war of words, and things could get ugly between these two.
As for politics, Smith stated earlier this month that a presidential bid in 2028 is highly unlikely after previously declaring that he had “no choice” but to consider a run for the Oval Office.
