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Stephen A. Smith accused of 'ruining' the NBA Draft as criticism mounts against $100m ESPN star
Stephen A. Smith accused of 'ruining' the NBA Draft as criticism mounts against $100m ESPN star

Daily Mail​

time27-06-2025

  • Entertainment
  • Daily Mail​

Stephen A. Smith accused of 'ruining' the NBA Draft as criticism mounts against $100m ESPN star

ESPN star Stephen A. Smith has been accused of 'ruining' the NBA Draft by basketball fans on social media as well as others who cover the sport, such as OutKick's Dan Dakich. Dakich spent a long portion of his show on Friday airing his grievances with Smith, as the episode was titled ' WOKE ESPN & Stephen A. Smith RUINED The NBA Draft'. Smith is a staple of ESPN's NBA coverage but has rarely spent time covering the athletes being drafted this week, with Dakich, a former college head coach, taking exception with the network's decision to put him on the broadcast. 'The best in the draft was always Fran Fraschilla, but Fran Fraschilla is a middle aged white guy. Fran Fraschilla doesn't yell, scream, rant and rave and act like an idiot,' Dakich said. 'He knows every foreign player. Seth Greenberg on radio knows every current player. But you can't do it because, well, you gotta have some brothers.' 'You got to have loud, you got to have stupid. And, oh, by the way, they're paying the dude 20million a year, which is the dumbest deal in the history of television. I still say this. Can anybody show me where First Take is the highest rated show in the morning like Smith claims? Can anybody show me where Stephen A. Smith makes the money back that he's being paid, anybody? You can't, there's no chance.' Earlier this year, Smith signed a 5-year, $100million deal with the network, locking him in through 2030 to ESPN. Dakich also called the ESPN star 'Screamin' A. Smith' for how he acts on national television. Dakich and Smith were co-workers at ESPN from 2012 until 2021, with Dakich helping with the network's college basketball coverage. 'ESPN needs to stop putting Stephen A Smith on every event he is not needed for the NBA draft you got staff that been following college ball all year far more knowledgeable,' one fan said on social media. Smith has been under a microscope for all of 2025, first toying with a run to be the Democratic nominee for President in 2028. Earlier this month, he came under fire for not paying attention during an NBA Finals Game, as he was caught playing on his phone while the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers squared off in front of him. Smith responded on X: 'Yep! That's me. Who would've thought….I can multi-task. Especially during TIMEOUTS! Hope y'all are enjoying the NBA Finals. This is going 7 games now, peeps!' Yet, the photographer named Kimberly hit back in an instant, shutting down Smith's claim that it was captured during a timeout. 'Fool, this was you during game play,' she replied along with another picture of him tackling the card game. 'There's videos. You started this new round during timeouts.'

Caitlin Clark accused of sly behavior during wild WNBA bust-up
Caitlin Clark accused of sly behavior during wild WNBA bust-up

Daily Mail​

time19-06-2025

  • Sport
  • Daily Mail​

Caitlin Clark accused of sly behavior during wild WNBA bust-up

Caitlin Clark has been accused of 'flopping' during the wild scenes on Tuesday night which saw her shoved to the ground by opponent Marina Mabrey. Chaos ensued in the second half of the Fever's matchup with the Sun, after Clark was poked in the eye by Connecticut 's Jacy Sheldon. The Indiana star then pushed Sheldon back in return before Mabrey rushed to the scene and hip-checked Clark to the floor. But while Mabrey later saw her technical foul on the play upgraded to a flagrant two by the WNBA, Outkick's Dan Dakich believes that Clark exaggerated the contact from her rival. 'Referees are under no obligation to step in and protect Clark. Clark flopped,' Dakich said on his 'Don't @ Me' podcast. 'Mabrey did what good teammates do. Gave [Clark] a little shot. Should Mabrey have been thrown out? I don't know… The truth of the matter is Clark flopped… her a** off. Technical foul on Mabrey… no ejection, good.' Clark clearly took issue with the (seemingly accidental) eye poke from Sheldon, though tension had been building between the pair from earlier in the game. In another tense moment, Clark fired off a volatile message after Sheldon appeared to say: 'You can't do that.' 'I can do whatever the f*** I want to do,' Clark said to Sheldon before shoving her away. Mabrey quickly stepped in and gave a little shove to Clark as she walked away from the confrontation. But no technical fouls were called in that exchange. Ultimately, Dakich defended Sheldon's approach to guarding the reigning Rookie of the Year. '[If] I'm out there playing [and] I'm guarding her a**, why do I care about record viewership? I'm competing. That's what I thought this young lady Sheldon was doing. I did. I thought Sheldon was competing her a** off. I thought she was guarding hard.' The former Bowling Green basketball coach later said: 'I thought Clark did what Clark does: flop, instigate, then run away. That's what she does. People can get mad about it, and I know she's the holy grail for everything, including our show, but I gotta tell you, that's what she does.' While Clark missed five games due to a quad injury, it seems the physical treatment that she experienced during her rookie season has carried into her sophomore year. However, Sheldon later found herself on the wrong end of a hard foul as well towards the end of the game. As Sheldon raced towards the hoop after a steal, Clark's teammate Sophie Cunningham wrapped her arms around Sheldon's head and pulled her by her neck to the ground. Another large scuffle ensued, with Cunningham, Sheldon and Connecticut's Lindsay Allen ultimately ejected.

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