ESPN's Stephen A. Smith claims that Los Angeles Lakers point guard Rajon Rondo disrespected him inside the locker room. Smith has emphasized his thoughts that Rondo should have been suspended more games for his ugly altercation with Houston Rockets point guard Chris Paul. Apparently, Rondo was having none of it.
For The Win's Andrew Joseph wrote a column on this, including the transcribed lines of Smith's expressive statements during Thursday's episode of ESPN's First Take.
“As an aside, I just wanted, if you don’t mind, I just wanted to deviate away from this particular subject. I wanted to start off the show saying something — when I was in the Lakers locker room last night, Mr. Rondo directed a very disrespectful comment my way. He didn’t say it by name. I was standing right next to him. I just kept my head down because out of respect to the Los Angeles Lakers as an organization, I didn’t want to make a scene. So, I just left it at that. I just want Rondo to know I know that. Number 1. And Number 2 — I stand by my proclamation that he deserved a 15-game suspension for spitting in the face of Chris Paul. And last but not least, I just want to say out of respect for him, I would remind him … I never said anything about why he left Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Sacramento, it goes on and on. I’ll just leave it at that.
“Anytime he wants to have a big man conversation, I’m more than willing to have a conversation because I do respect him.”
Interestingly, Smith has never held himself back from venting out his ire on NBA teams and players. The ever-expressive analyst has found himself in heated arguments with fellow commentators, and he could have found another person to argue with in Rondo. The flamboyant point guard isn't one to back down, either.