Stephen A. Smith rants about why Kendrick Perkins is “REALLY ANNOYING” him ahead of Game 7.
Bob Myers after the rant: “Just because you yell something doesn’t mean it’s true.” 🏀📺🎙️ #NBA #NBAFinals pic.twitter.com/R96DEjaaGv
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 22, 2025
It’s been a rough NBA Finals when it comes to whatever smoldering mess is now left of Stephen A. Smith’s reputation.
First, Smith was caught playing Solitaire during the pivotal fourth quarter of the Oklahoma City Thunder’s win in Game 4. Smith responded to the controversy by laughing it off and saying he’s capable of multitasking while still watching games he’s ostensibly paid to pay attention to for ESPN. That, of course, was an obvious lie.
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With only the fourth NBA Finals Game 7 this century on tap for Sunday night, hoops fans were begging the famously brash and loud Smith to do a more responsible job of setting the stage for what should hopefully be an epic evening in Oklahoma City. They wanted him to respect the magnitude of the game more, rather than making his coverage as part of ESPN’s in-game studio panel all about himself, like he always does.
Unsurprisingly, Smith did not oblige.
Early on ESPN’s broadcast, what should’ve been a simple conversation about an over/under for Chet Holmgren’s final Game 7 point total devolved into Smith totally veering off track so he could yell about his frustrations with Kendrick Perkins’ analysis (which is normally a fair criticism, to be clear). That’s right, dearest readers. Smith turned pregame coverage of a potentially legendary Game 7 into a manufactured First Take debate segment. His shamelessness boggles the mind.
During Smith’s aimless (and needless) rant, you could actually see former Golden State Warriors executive Bob Myers growing frustrated when the camera panned over to his face. And after Smith finished bloviating about nothing, Myers said what we’ve been thinking about him for quite some time.
You don’t have to yell to make your points. You just don’t:
If ESPN has any self-respect about its live NBA coverage remaining, it’s clear that this studio show needs to be blown up before the next NBA season begins. I’m talking torn down to the studs. I’ll hold off on salting the earth because I think it could still be redeemed with enough earnest effort and creativity.
Anything else, and we risk further exposing ourselves to the Stephen A. Smith Show, er, I mean, the winner-take-all championship game.
