Stephen A. Smith has gotten in the habit of taking things personally. Whenever he sits down for an episode of his show, Straight Shooter, he is aiming at someone. On Wednesday, he had two targets in mind: Jemele Hill and Draymond Green.
It all started when Hill appeared on a podcast with the current NBA free agent. During their conversation, Hill spoke about the state of sports journalism and how some pundits say things they would not say in person. Green agreed, noting that the entire sports journalism industry has been eradicated by bad actors. Even though Smith was not named in the segment, he took this as disrespect and issued a question to his former colleague, Hill.
“Are you implying you’ve been in the locker room more than me? I was a beat writer and an NBA columnist for 15 years," Smith said.
Stephen A. Smith Calls Out Jemele Hill & Draymond Green
From there, Smith addressed Green, stating that it is time the four-time NBA champion reveals what is really going on between the two of them.
“Draymond, when you gonna stop dancing around issues involving me and tell them what’s up? You and I were pretty tight," Smith noted. "And then after the choking incident with Rudy Gobert and the slap to Jusuf Nurkic, I upset you because I called you and said it’s difficult to defend you… We’ve never talked since that time… When you have sources, you PROTECT sources.”
Hill took to Twitter to respond to the controversy, making it clear that she has nothing but respect for Smith. She also said that they were not talking about him, and that he is welcome to come on her show, anytime.
"It seems you’re responding to implications and not what I actually said. You put a lot of thought into my laugh, which I guess is flattering. I’m well aware of your journalistic credentials. I interned at The Inquirer when you were a columnist. I often tell young people that you became what you became because you were one of the best NBA writers in the country," Hill wrote. "Draymond and I had a broad journalistic discussion about the relationship between players and reporters, where I used myself as an example of how doing daily television kept me at a distance from the people I was actually discussing. I didn’t mention you. I honestly wasn’t even thinking about you. That discussion wasn’t about you at all. I didn’t say I’d been in more locker rooms than you and never implied that. You swinging at ghosts, my guy. I don’t have a problem with you. If I did, I’d tell you to your face.
Whether or not Smith actually takes her up on that offer remains to be seen.
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