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- Stephen A. Smith has some harsh words for Juwan Howard after he threw a punch in the handshake line at Wisconsin.
- Smith is of the opinion that Howard could very well be fired for his actions.
- Be sure to check out more sports stories at BroBible here.
Wisconsin beat up on Michigan on Sunday afternoon, but Wolverines’ head coach Juwan Howard wanted to do some beating up of his own during the handshake line.
After a made basket with less than a minute to play, down by double-digits, Howard’s group pressed the Wisconsin offense. The Badgers’ head coach Greg Gard called a timeout to avoid a turnover, and Howard didn’t appreciate it one bit.
Fast-forward to the handshake line, and video shows Howard say “I’ll remember that sh-t” as he tried to walk by Gard without shaking hands. Gard then stopped Howard, Howard immediately pulls the ‘don’t touch me’ card,’ they exchanged pleasantries, and then Howard decided to throw a punch at a Wisconsin assistant.
You could argue that Howard and Gard both played a role in the altercation, but Howard’s role was much, much bigger. He said the first words in the handshake line and he was the only coach that threw and landed a punch.
The big question now is what type of punishment should Howard receive? At the time of this writing, the NCAA, Big Ten, or Michigan itself have not announced a suspension or the firing of Howard.
Stephen A. Smith Blasts Juwan Howard For Throwing A Punch
Stephen A. Smith reacted to the altercation during Monday’s edition of ‘First Take’ laying into Howard for his actions, but also explaining that he doesn’t believe he should lose his job.
“I will say this, he should be suspended immediately. It should be for the rest of the season. I’m talking about the rest of the regular season,” Smith explained. “The conference tournament, if they were fortunate enough to get to the NCAA Tournament, that too.
“He should not be allowed to coach another game this season. If he ends up avoiding getting fired, he would be a very lucky individual.”
“The biggest culprit here, unfortunately, is Juwan Howard,” Smith stated. “His actions were inexcusable. You swung at the assistant coach. Swung at him.
“How could you possibly excuse that? When you’re supposed to be a leader of men. How could you possibly excuse that, when you’re the one that’s supposed to be setting the example? Juwan Howard failed miserably in that regard.”