JR Smith Reveals Why Black NBA Players Won’t Acknowledge Howard Stern At Madison Square Garden

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Before the world of podcasts and Joe Rogan took over the airwaves, there was Howard Stern.

Stern, like Rogan, became immensely famous by saying controversial things and questioning “authority” without ever really making much of a salient point.

One of the OG shock jocks, if you will.

These days, The Howard Stern Show is still one of Sirius XM’s most popular programs.

But Stern has a problem. The superstar radio host routinely sits courtside for New York Knicks games, including during the Knicks most recent playoff run. But he doesn’t seem to understand why players, specifically black players, refuse to acknowledge him.

Via Medialite

“They put me courtside! And the Black players won’t come over and say hello to me,” “But they go over to Spike Lee.”

“I’ll be sitting next to Tracy Morgan or Chris Rock. You know, they seat you where they seat you. And a lot of times when I’m there, I’m next to Tracy Morgan, who is so funny. And he’s sitting there and like, a couple of the players will come over. They like give him that bro shake and stuff. And I’m like — these guys should hug me too,” Stern continued. “I mean, what am I? I grew up in a Black neighborhood, you know what I mean? I mean they should know that. But I get ignored.”

“I want them to. I want them to talk to me, I want them to come over and go, ‘Hey Howard, fan of the show!’ Or something. I don’t get that. And, you know who comes up to me sometimes — the referees. White guys and Black guys, they’ll come up to me, White referees and Black. Like, ‘Hey Howard, hey.’ But yeah, a lot of the White referees. So I’m like, oh, is everything racial now?”

“I just get upset. I’m like, you know, fame to me is very important. I’ll admit it. I like people to recognize me,” Stern said. “I’d like to think it’s a white thing, not my personality. I hope it’s racial. That’s all.”

As it turns out, it’s not a racial thing.

But it turns out it’s actually much, much worse.

Former NBA star JR Smith revealed that players, both black and white, just don’t know who Stern is.

Talk about a massive hit to the ego.