Getty Image / Mitchell Leff
Sports talk shows tend to lead to some heated discussions. Especially when Stephen A. Smith is on screen filming First Take.
However, things got a little awkward between Smith and former NBA star JJ Redick while they were discussing the Denver Nuggets-Los Angeles Lakers series.
Redick didn’t seem to be a fan of Smith’s take and tried calling him out on it. Of course, Smith didn’t back down.
Even Molly Qerim had a tough time getting them to shut up so they could move on to the next topic.
Here’s the clip of JJ Redick and Stephen A. Smith going at it live on-air in the ESPN studios.
Petty 😂😂 @jj_redick @stephenasmith pic.twitter.com/553Zi0T5w0
— First Take (@FirstTake) May 23, 2023
My favorite part might be Brian Windhorst just laughing to himself watching these two go at it. Because I basically had the same reaction.
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen JJ Redick get into it with Stephen A. Smith. Or anyone, for that matter.
The former NBA star does a great job of offering analysis to the game of basketball. But it’s pretty obvious that the talking heads get under his skin a bit.
It also doesn’t help that Smith never backs down. The guy rarely stops talking and it’s a rare occurrence when one of his co-workers stumps him.
But I definitely side with Redick here. For whatever reason, pretty much everyone on First Take was hyping up the Lakers after getting swept in the Western Conference Finals.
Why are we talking about a losing team? Especially considering the Nuggets have arguably the best player in the league right now.
Oh well. At least Redick makes the show entertaining as he challenges pretty much everyone on First Take.