Prominent sportscaster Stephen A. Smith has built a reputation as a brash, outspoken pundit who typically stands by his words.
But he was forced to publicly backtrack his remarks about several New York Knicks players over the past decade.
The Brooklyn native, 58, rallied behind the Knicks’ historic run in the 2026 NBA playoffs last week.
The franchise ended their 53-year championship drought when the Knicks defeated the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals.
Knicks Point guard Jalen Brunson and small forward Josh Hart helped secure the 4-1 victory over the Spurs and bring the Larry O’Brien Trophy back to the Big Apple.
After winning the NBA championship, the former Villanova University college basketball teammates hosted a live edition of their “The Roommates” podcast with Smith as a special guest.
Hart, 31, confronted the ESPN personality face-to-face inside Madison Square Garden’s Infosys Theater.
He was over Smith pushing negative narratives about him and other Knicks players over the years.
Hart pulled “receipts” of Smith claiming the 2016 Villanova squad, which also featured future Knicks forward Mikal Bridges, did not have any legit NBA prospects.
The two-time NCAA champion and Smith had a back-and-forth over comments the “First Take” panelist made about Bridges, 29, in the midst of his rough start to the season.
“I think you might have told me to … hell quiet and shut up and go somewhere,” Hart recalled to Smith in front of a live audience on June 19.
He continued, “We are now sitting here with that golden trophy right there to your right. We have this beautiful platform in front of everybody here and on ESPN. Can you sit here and admit that you were wrong?”
The crowd burst into cheers as Smith replied, “Say what?”
Hart reiterated, “I said, can you sit here and admit you were wrong?”
Smith then feigned that he could not hear the baller’s question.
Brunson, 29, then jumped in to demand, “Apologize!”
The sports analyst eventually admitted, “I’m a grown-a— man. I was beyond wrong. I apologize to this brother on national television. I’m apologizing to you. I’m apologizing to the entire Knicks organization.”
The life-long Knicks fan added, “And let me be very, very clear. I have never been more happy to be wrong in my life.”
Local NYC residents in the venue responded to Smith’s mea culpa with loud applause in the room.
The former sports columnist spent the next several minutes explaining that his “frustration” over the tumultuous history of the Knicks failing to capture an NBA championship since 1973 led him to bad-mouthing Brunson, Hart, Bridges, and the team.
“So, I’ll apologize for being wrong, right? But let me be very clear. If it means another championship, I’d do it again. I’d do it again,” Smith insisted, which garnered more cheers from the onlookers and a smirk from Hart.
Previously, Smith apologized to Brunson during another “First Take” segment last week.
The 2026 NBA Finals MVP proved the doubters wrong by averaging 32.6 points, 4.6 assists, and 4.2 rebounds per game across the five-game Finals series.
“I owe this man an apology,” Smith said to the former Dallas Mavericks second-round draft pick. “I am grateful for what you have done for this city, what y’all have done for this city. You won’t be hearing any doubts from me anymore, my brother.”
Brunson reacted to that humbling confession from a typically unrepentant Stephen A. by saying, “We’ll see about that…. But thank you.”
That exchange between the second-generation NBA player and the “Straight Shooter” author went viral.
While Brunson accepted the apology and Hart seemed to have moved on from the hostilities, social media users were not ready to let the polarizing commentator off the hook yet.
“Josh and Jalen bullied this mf idiot in front of a live audience. Love them for it,” one Smith critic expressed on X. Another poster tweeted, “Looks like Stephen A. finally found the mute button on his ego.”
A third person wrote, “If they got this out of SAS, they [are] real-life champs, lol, in every shape, form, and fashion,” while someone else on the app commanded, “Grovel, Stephen A., grovel.”
“I love how they’ve made Stephen apologize like 10 different times now, they’re so petty,” stated another poster who commended the Knicks stars for directly addressing their ex-tormenter face-to-face.
Plus, Hart earned praise for confronting Smith when a member of Knicks Nation posted, “Definition of standing on business. I hope this now squashes the beef between SAS and Knicks fans. Just stop picking against us.”
Smith’s admission that he was wrong about this Knicks team’s chances of winning an NBA title came as a shock to some viewers familiar with his ability to hold grudges against perceived foes.
His list of sports-centered adversaries includes former No. 1 NBA draft pick Kwame Brown, former ESPN co-host Max Kellerman, nine-time NBA All-Star Kyrie Irving, and all-time leading NBA scorer LeBron James.
It seems Smith is picking and choosing his battles these days.
His other recent feud with Donald Trump ended with a whimper when her chose not to harshly fire back after the President called him an “arrogant fool” and a “loudmouth huckster.”
