Monica McNutt called out Stephen A. Smith on ESPN’s First Take after the latter claimed that no other program talks about women’s hoops as much as his show. McNutt argued that if the 55-year-old had discussed women’s hoops before the Caitlin-Clark era, she would have given him props. This exchange left him fuming and because of his anger, the long-time ESPN employee couldn’t muster up the required response.
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Later, the veteran analyst, on his The Stephen A. Smith Show, posited that he didn’t talk about the league earlier because it wasn’t resonating with hoops fans. As a mainstream talk show host, he’d follow the trends rather than delve into an obscure phenomenon.
The host also claimed that through his platform, he has helped elevate the profile of women voices such as Monica McNutt, Chiney Ogwumike, and his co-host Molly Qerim. He argued that he played a pivotal role in shaping women’s representation in sports media.
His former ESPN colleague, Jemele Hill, took to her X and didn’t approve of SAS’s comments. She reminded folks that she hosted ‘Cold Pizza’ on ESPN before Smith had his renowned show. She criticized him for claiming that he has made several careers and found that line of reasoning quirky.
FYI: I was doing First Take before it was even called that (it was originally called Cold Pizza) and BEFORE Stephen A Smith was a regular and then a permanent co-host of the show. Now, when SAS had his show, Quite Frankly, he had me on twice, I believe. It was a huge opportunity…
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) June 4, 2024
Perhaps, the 48-year-old resents the idea of someone insinuating that they are the sole reason for someone’s success. At any rate, Smith was perturbed about his whole ordeal with Monica McNutt and didn’t approve of her attitude.
Stephen A. Smith defends himself
On his show, the offended analyst revealed that he was upset at how McNutt called him out on First Take. He accused the 34-year-old of missing the point about sports media trends and couldn’t fathom why she blasted him out of the blue.
“Monica McNutt took a conversation and did something she has never done before that absolutely shocked me that she did today. That I totally and emphatically disagreed with,” the long-time ESPN analyst expressed.
Later, he claimed that not only has he given a ton of limelight to women’s sports compared to other platforms but has also helped craft a ton of prominent women’s basketball analysts. Thus, he challenged McNutt for claiming that he didn’t shed enough light on the WNBA before the arrival of Caitlin Clark.
At any rate, while such heated discussions can averse some hoops fans, they also create the type of sensitization that has been missing around the WNBA.
Meanwhile, McNutt didn’t seem to be particularly talking about women’s representation in sports and was just highlighting that his colleague could have done more to promote the league. However, he didn’t like the way she framed her takes and termed them as disrespectful.
