5 Feuds Involving Stephen A. Smith: Terrell Owens And More

Kevin Durant

In 2015, Stephen A. Smith reported that Kevin Durant was considering leaving the Oklahoma City Thunder to join the Los Angeles Lakers. KD responded, saying “I don’t talk to Stephen A Smith at all. Nobody in my family, my friends, they don’t talk to Stephen A Smith. So he’s lying.”

This led to an all-time First Take segment where SAS stared directly into the camera and told the two-time NBA Finals MVP that he did not want to make an enemy out of him. Things remained tense between the two over the years, especially when Smith said KD going to the Golden State Warriors was the “weakest” move ever by a superstar. They eventually met up for an ESPN interview in 2019 to clear the air.

They made peace, and Smith took a more measured approach in discussing Durant moving forward. Unfortunately, things flared up again in 2022.

Smith claimed that Michael Jordan changed the NBA for the worse and made the game more about individuals than teamwork during an episode of First Take. Durant retorted by saying he, Skip Bayless, and Shannon Sharpe were responsible for the game becoming worse, as they changed the way analysts and fans assess basketball. SAS fired back, saying that sports analysts weren’t going anywhere.

Kevin Durant is never afraid to fire off a tweet, and Stephen A. Smith is never afraid to share an opinion, so if these two happen to go back and forth again, nobody should be surprised.

Jason Whitlock

Stephen A. Smith followed Katt Williams’ lead and let loose on Jason Whitlock at the start of this year.

The Fearless podcast host has commented on whether Smith deserves his salary, claimed he has backstabbed his co-workers, slandered his basketball career, called him “embarrassingly wrong, bombastic, and stupid,” accused him of playing the “race card,” and said he would do anything for popularity.

The tension between the two had been ongoing, but SAS finally had enough and addressed Whitlock by name on an episode of his eponymous podcast. Smith referenced a 2015 Deadspin article that detailed how several ESPN employees refused to work with Whitlock, and revealed that he had a clause in his ESPN contract to never put them on TV together.

Beyond the contract terms, Smith got very personal and called Whitlock a “bi**h,” a “fat piece of sh*t,” and said he is “worse than a white supremacist,” as he often prays on the downfall of fellow Black people.

It was the most open and direct Smith has ever been, and he preceded the rant by notifying his ESPN employers and his pastor, because he knew just how intense his words would be.

Terrell Owens

In 2019, Stephen A. Smith was critical of Colin Kaepernick in his attempts to rejoin the NFL. Terrell Owens wasn’t a fan of how SAS spoke about his fellow Black man, going so far as to accuse former co-host Max Kellerman of seeming “Blacker” than Smith during a segment of First Take.

Smith did not take kindly to the accusation, resulting in a tense television interaction. Years later, Smith joined The Joe Budden Podcast and spoke about why he ultimately did not want to work with Kellerman anymore. The clip gained traction on X, which prompted fans to resurface the clip of Owens saying Kellerman was “Blacker” than Smith. Owens enthusiastically reshared the tweet and all hell broke loose.

Smith and Owens went back and forth on X, with Smith accusing the NFL Hall Of Famer of doing shady things behind the scenes and threatening to dedicate a podcast episode to an Owens tell-all. TO claimed he had nothing to hide and wasn’t afraid of SAS because he had a platform. Things have been quiet since, but one can never rule out a beef getting reignited when Smith is involved.

Kwame Brown

Stephen A. Smith‘s longest-tenured beef may just be with former NBA player Kwame Brown. In the early 2000s, he was highly critical of the 2001 No. 1 draft pick, calling him a “bonafide scrub” who can’t play. Brown underperformed throughout his NBA career, and likely would have fallen out of favor with teams regardless, but being publicly panned by the media certainly didn’t help his case.

In 2021, Brown made an infamous splash on social media with several viral clips. In one of them, he addressed SAS for speaking negatively about him and claimed he was disrespected. He even invited the First Take host to meet him in Seattle for a fight.

Smith responded on ESPN and claimed that his comments were never personal, but rather just about Brown’s poor basketball performances. While it could have stopped there, Smith added a montage of Brown’s worst moments on the court, which seemingly made things more personal, albeit comedic.

Most recently, the former Los Angeles Laker called out Smith for what he believes is a basketball camp that will price out many deserving kids.

“All I want to know is this: what the hell is Stephen A. [Smith] gonna tell a bunch of kids at a basketball camp?” he asked in a video. “The average NBA player, they charge like maybe $250-300 per kid. This motherf**ker’s $3,000? Stephen A. Smith gonna charge $3,000 to teach kids about basketball. What the f**k he gon’ tell them?

Joe Rogan

Stephen A. Smith‘s feud with Joe Rogan was the rare instance where he wasn’t the aggressor and actually didn’t want any problems; that didn’t mean the problems weren’t still there, though.

In 2020, Smith covered MMA and the controversial podcast host felt he wasn’t equipped to speak on the combat sport after his breakdown of Conor McGregor and Donald Cerrone’s fight.

“With fighting, you have to know it, or no one’s going to respect you,” Rogan said during an episode of The Joe Rogan Experience. “If you don’t know what you’re talking about and you’re talking about it in front of millions of people, man that’s a bad look for everybody. It’s a bad look for ESPN, it’s a bad look for him, it’s a bad look for the sport. It’s like … there’s other people that can do this.”

Rogan understood why Smith was thrust to the forefront, given the visibility he brings, but wasn’t a fan of how he discussed the sport. Smith retorted by reminding the former Fear Factor host of his credentials, but never made any personal attacks. He defended his right to speak on the sport that he had previously covered, while also acknowledging that he didn’t claim to be an expert.

It’s rare to see Smith “back down” when his knowledge is questioned, but this was still a big deal given they are two of the biggest names in sports.