Stephen A. Smith gets real on Lakers Kwame Brown rant

Stephen A. Smith opened up on his famous rant about the Lakers' trade of Kwame Brown for Marc Gasol in 2008.

Stephen A. Smith is known for his boisterous personality and humor as the host of ESPN's “First Take.” Perhaps the most memorable moment of his career was his epic rant on the Los Angeles Lakers' trade for Pau Gasol, which sent former No. 1 overall pick Kwame Brown to the Memphis Grizzlies.

Brown is widely regarded as one of the biggest NBA busts of all time. Following the trade, Smith went on a rant in which he blasted Brown and praised the Lakers for making the move.

On Podcast P With Paul George Presented by Wave Sports + Entertainment, Smith was asked what he would do over in his career and mentioned the Brown segment.

"Kwame Brown… I know what I said. I did mean it… But I didn't know it was gonna be like this. Remember, I said it before Twitter, Facebook."

Stephen A. Smith on the one thing in his career that he would do over again

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“Kwame Brown, I wish I could do that over,” Smith said. “I wouldn't do it. I know what I said. I did mean it. I ain't gonna sit here and tell you I ain't mean the s— I said. But I didn't know it was going to be like this.”

Smith's rant on Brown is arguably the most memorable moment of his broadcast career. It has since been re-broadcasted as a meme and is known as one of the biggest reasons why Smith has become popular beyond casual sports fans.

Unfortunately, Smith said he realized Brown, who has since responded to the rant, was hurt by it.

“Remember, I said it before Twitter, Facebook,” Smith said. “I didn't know 15 years later, they gonna have memes and videos. And when I see what he says, I realize how hurt he is.

“One time I had to address it, because I felt like he was coming at me like I was scared. I can't even tell you when I did that, the stars who called — I ain't going to mention no names — practically all of them was Hall of Famers. And they're like, ‘Nah.' And I was like, ‘Where were y'all when he was saying all of this stuff for weeks?' I didn't say anything. And as I see some of the clips now and some of the stuff that he says, I just be like, ‘Go ahead, bro. Say what you got to say.'”