Stephen A Smith has addressed the viral video of Michael Jordan pinching and poking the 6-year-old son of Tyler Reddick. He labeled fans' reactions to the move "ridiculous" during an episode of his Straight Shooter show, earlier this week, after Reddick won the Daytona 500.
"It's a kid that Michael Jordan loves like it's his own kid. It's a kid that he's known for years… If you see the footage, he's holding the kid in his arms, he's walking around playing with them. Why would we jump to that conclusion? Particularly when it comes to somebody the likes of Michael Jordan," Smith said.
He continued: “In the process of holding people accountable, it should be based on facts, not feelings. It should be based on what we know, not what we think. Unfortunately, the time we’re living in, that’s not necessarily the case. One could say we should stop acting like a viral moment is a verdict-- we should know better. We know that we're not living in that day and age."
"A lot of people are willing to convict one another in the court of public opinion. Call it algorithmic amplification, call it people jumping to conclusions because it’s profitable for them to do so... You should be very hesitant to impute the integrity of certain people, who are as accomplished and have done as much as Michael Jordan has done. Today is his 63rd birthday, just won the Daytona 500, playing around with a kid while his father was standing right there, and that’s the kind of conclusion we jump to. You can understand in this day and age how some people take things. I saw the video, it’s a non-story in my opinion," Smith concluded.
Tyler Reddick's Response To Michael Jordan
Stephen A Smith ended up sitting down with Reddick for an interview on his SiriusXM show, Tuesday. During the conversation, Reddick also downplayed the controversy. "From my perspective, I’ve gotten to know Michael and his family very well over the years I’ve been here with 23XI," he said.
Reddick continued: "I don’t see what other people see when it comes to this. For me, it’s a huge moment. This is the biggest moment of my career. It’s a huge moment for my family and for his family, and I just put that off to the side and think about the look on (Jordan’s wife) Yvette’s face and the whole family and his whole group when they got to victory lane too, and just how happy everybody was celebrating together. So, that’s where I’m at with it."
