Stephen A. Smith always means what he says and rarely walks back his comments, but there are a few moments of which he’s not proud.
On Los Angeles Clippers star Paul George’s show Podcast P, Smith admitted that one of those moments was his rant about former player Kwame Brown. It’s widely regarded as Smith’s most iconic moment on TV.
“There is no denying — even though I hate bringing up his name because it just gives him a reason to gain attention — but Kwame Brown,” Smith said. “I know what I said. I did mean it. I ain’t gonna sit here and tell you I ain’t mean the shit I said; but I didn’t know it was gonna be like this. Remember, I said it before Twitter, Facebook … I didn’t know, man. I didn’t know that 20 years later, 15 years later, they’re gonna have memes and videos. I didn’t know, y’all. I really, really didn’t, man.
“I wish I could do that over. I wouldn’t do it.”
On February 1, 2008, Brown and several other members of the Los Angeles Lakers were traded to the Memphis Grizzlies for Pau Gasol. Shortly after the news, Smith praised the move on ESPN while criticizing Brown — the No. 1 overall pick in the 2001 NBA Draft.
The rant, which immediately became a viral hit, is often the first thing people associate with Brown.
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