“Always Ridiculed My Dallas Cowboys”: NBA Analyst Claps Back at Stephen A. Smith After Knicks’ “All-Time Playoff Choke Job”

Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith haven’t been coworkers since 2016, but after the New York Knicks suffered an epic collapse against the Indiana Pacers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals last night, Skip couldn’t help but take a shot at his former debate partner.

For anyone who missed it, the Pacers erased a 14-point deficit in less than three minutes to send the game to overtime. The tying shot was a Tyrese Haliburton jumper that bounced high off the back rim and somehow came down perfectly into the hoop. At first it was thought to be a game-winner, and Haliburton responded by mimicking Reggie Miller’s “choke” pose from back in 1994.

Haliburton’s toe was on the line, but the Pacers won in overtime anyway, which spurred Bayless into action.

“I just witnessed the all-time playoff choke job by the New York Knicks,” Bayless began. “And allow me to say that my old friend and ex-partner Stephen A. Smith always, always ridiculed my Dallas Cowboys as an accident waiting to happen. Want to know the God’s truth? The NBA accident waiting to happen has always been the New York Knicks.”

Bayless pointed out that the Knicks haven’t won a championship in over a half-century, whereas the Cowboys, at least, were winning rings in the ’90s. He then went on to say that he didn’t like the Knicks this year because they have “a choke factor,” “shaky intangibles,” and “a really weak basketball backbone when it really matters.”

Considering the Knicks just knocked off the defending champion Boston Celtics in six games, it’s a little tough to take this criticism seriously, but we’ll let Skip celebrate this one, since Stephen A. has mostly been able to get the last laugh on him over the years.

Last night was a bad night for Stephen A. Smith

Stephen A. has certainly gotten a lot of mileage out of dancing on the Cowboys’ grave whenever he can, even wearing a ridiculously oversized cowboy hat and an “accident waiting to happen” t-shirt while smoking a victory cigar to commemorate the end of their season. Now the shoe is on the other foot.

Bayless wasn’t even the only one who delighted in sticking it to the First Take host. Haliburton made Stephen A. eat his words from earlier in the week when SAS said Haliburton isn’t a superstar because he isn’t asked to carry the Pacers’ offense in the same way that Jalen Brunson is with the Knicks.

Stephen A. can’t even get any love from the Knicks players themselves, as they snubbed him after beating the Celtics in Game 6 because he picked Boston to win the series.

Luckily for Stephen A., the Pacers still need to win three more games to advance to the Finals, so this series is far from over. Even if the results don’t go his way, he can still take comfort in knowing that the Cowboys will probably underwhelm again this year, giving him a chance to get back at Bayless this fall.