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Stephen A. Smith took to his podcast The Stephen A. Smith Show to give his take on the viral debate between him and ESPN basketball analyst Monica McNutt. The two were sparring over the narrative that WNBA players were jealous of Caitlin Clark and that her brief altercation with Chicago Sky guard Chennedy Carter was an example of the feelings that players hold against her.
Stephen A. Smith: “Who talks about the WNBA, who talks about women, who talks about women's sports more than First Take?”
Monica McNutt: “Stephen A., respectfully, with your platform, you could have been doing this three years ago if you wanted to.”pic.twitter.com/2m5Nyx6KIN
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) June 3, 2024
“Chennedy Carter's behavior is not indicative of the entire league,” McNutt argued. “We are still talking about competition where you are allowed to get a little extra elbow in. If you are competing and you do it within the parameters of the game. The game is physical. Caitlyn is helping to grow the league. These women understand that, but she cannot be babied as a rookie.”
The conversation took a turn as Smith looked to validate what he believes to be extensive coverage that First Take has done of the WNBA.
“All right. Who talks about the WNBA? Who talks about women, who talk about women's sports more, more than First Take,” Smith asked.
McNutt's response both shocked the panel and sent social media into a frenzy. “Stephen A., respectfully, with your platform, you could have been doing this three years ago if you wanted to.”
It only took a few hours for Smith to hop on his podcast and respond to the segment and the black lash that ensued. He highlighted his feelings on the matter and quantified how upset he was at what occurred.
“Look, I’m not pissed to the point where I’m annoyed, and I’m gonna call people out their names and all that,” he began. “Especially people that I love, like the person I’m gonna talk about in a few minutes, but certain things need to be corrected, for the record. Because certain things people are ill-informed about…And the publications that grab the headlines and try to manipulate things and make things seem that they’re something that they’re not. I understand that some people are desperate for clickbait. That’s how they do it. They don’t care about accuracy. They just care about talking sh*t and not knowing what the hell they’re talking about.”
Concerning Monica McNutt, Smith said, “But for some reason, my colleague at ESPN, Ms. Monica McNutt, couldn’t figure that out…And took a conversation and did something she has never done before that absolutely shocked me that she did today, that I totally and emphatically disagree with. Although I do love her to death. And I do appreciate the great work she does for me on First Take on ESPN and the great work she does for ESPN overall. I love Monica McNutt. But this is the first real disagreement we had, and since she brought it up on national television, I’m gonna bring it up now.”
He went on to make his points, trying to link the fame of McNutt and other female sports commentators like Chiney Ogwumike and Andreya Carter to their appearances on First Take, which he thinks boosted their recognition.
“Chiney Ogwumike, absolutely wonderful, spectacular basketball analyst… ask her how it’s been to be on First Take. How about Andraya Carter? Who’s a rising star in this business? How much do you think First Take helped that? What about Kimberley Martin? What about Molly Qerim herself? “Now, I have sat back for years and taken a lot of sh*t from people… I could care less about people getting at me; I just want you to be accurate. And it is highly offensive to me when somebody implies or flat-out states like Monica McNutt did this morning, which was factually incorrect. I challenge anybody to find a show on sports television that discusses women’s issues that discuss the WNBA, or women’s sports that highlights and profiles female analysts more than First Take. It’s been going on for years.”
He also attempted to directly challenge McNutt's assertion that he could've done more with his platform to cover the WNBA, saying, “That is not true. Could I have done more? Well, if you’re sports show and sports show, you gotta talk about what’s percolating; you gotta talk about what’s resonating. You got to pay attention to what the masses are paying attention to. And the fact of the matter is, they weren’t paying any attention to the WNBA. So, there’s only so much I could do until the WNBA did something for itself. And then the second there was a sliver to do something more for the sport, I have always done something.”
