Here’s the Stephen A. Smith playbook on dealing with Black male athletes in his crosshairs:
1.He says something slick about your character and couches it in sports.
2. He threatens to attack you with his reach via ESPN if you respond.
3. He pulls in other Black men, normally former athletes with “credibility,” that he helped secure a job at ESPN via First Take, to join him in attacking said person.
4. If public opinion sways against him, he gaslights the audience by making it seem like he always supported the person he disrespected, cherry-picking moments when he had positive things to say about indisputable truths.
I’ve seen him run this play before and he will run it again.
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla: "Introduce yourself to the end of our bench and they can get a free throw. Introduce yourself to our other guys, they're allowed to shoot free throws."
NBA ref Aaron Smith: "Yeah they are and we've been calling them.