Stephen A. Smith draws a sharp line after Wembanyama egg incident in New York
Stephen A. Smith draws a sharp line after Wembanyama egg incident in New York
The night New York was celebrating its most remarkable comeback in NBA Finals history, things turned ugly a few blocks from Madison Square Garden. ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith used his First Take platform Thursday morning to address it directly and without much diplomacy.
The San Antonio Spurs had just blown a 29-point lead to lose 107-106 to the Knicks in Game 4 on Wednesday night, sending New York to a 3-1 series lead. As the Spurs returned to their Manhattan hotel, fans were waiting. Multiple eggs were thrown in the direction of Spurs star Victor Wembanyama, with at least one appearing to strike him in the head. Shams Charania confirmed the incident. No arrests were made at the hotel.
Smith’s response on First Take the following morning.
“The fools who did it, not only do I wish they knew who it was and they get arrested, I wish they get their ass kicked,” Smith said, per Awful Announcing. “Because he is real brave to do something like that when nobody knows who you are. That’s why I completely sided with Westbrook when we had the incident in Utah — because what he said: ‘You’re doing stuff that would never happen if you were straight up man-to-man with me.’ That’s what he said, and it is absolutely one thousand percent right. These athletes don’t deserve that.”
How Smith separated the incident from the broader Knicks fan base
“Those stupid ass fans, the couple of people who did it, they do not represent the New York Knicks. Most New Yorkers would never do something like that,” Smith said. “But there are always a few fools who hide behind crowds, hide behind being shielded by people so nobody knows who you are, so that you can be the kind of punk that would do something like this.”
He also asked the NBA to do more.
“The hotels they stay in — you got to insulate these guys better, make no mistake about it,” Smith said. “And I wanna say we gotta give San Antonio class personified. Those folks, they don’t do stuff like that. They have treated New Yorkers with all the class in the world. It’s a damn shame that couple of fools would stay in this city the way they did last night.”
Wembanyama addressed the episode calmly when asked about it Thursday.
“My thoughts, of course, is that we can’t forget it’s a game. We’re just playing a game out there. And I am all for passion, but, to the respect of each other, it’s unacceptable.”
Game 5 tips Saturday at 8:30 p.m. ET in San Antonio on ABC and ESPN. Wembanyama did not miss a step. The Spurs have more pressing matters to resolve than what happened on a New York sidewal
